IBDT vs IBDU

IBDTAiShares iBonds Dec 2028 Term Corporate ETF

IBDUAiShares iBonds Dec 2029 Term Corporate ETF

In short

IBDT Acts more like a bond than a bond fund: roughly 700 investment-grade corporate bonds that all mature in 2028, wrapped in one ticker with a defined end date. Built for ladder rungs, monthly distributions and a known finish line.

IBDU Buy one ticker, get hundreds of investment-grade corporate bonds that all come due in 2029. Then the fund winds up on or about December 15, 2029 and pays out what's left: a bond's end date with an ETF's diversification.

Stated mandate

IBDT The fund seeks to track an index of investment-grade corporate bonds maturing in 2028 and is designed to support income generation, bond-ladder construction, and interest-rate-risk management through a defined maturity.

IBDU The fund seeks to track an index of investment-grade corporate bonds that mature in 2029.

Why people hold it

• IBDT The defined 2028 maturity does the work: one ticker behaves like a ladder rung, no hunting down individual bonds or tracking each one's maturity.ishares.com
• About 700 investment-grade corporate bonds inside, so no single issuer carries the outcome the way it would in a handful of hand-picked bonds.
• Costs 0.10% a year, right at the typical fee for target-maturity bond funds, and it is one of the more actively traded names in that group.
• Launched in 2018 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, it ranks among the strongest implementations in the target-maturity bond group.

• IBDU Acts like a single bond: it terminates on or about December 15, 2029 and distributes its remaining net assets, a defined end date instead of a perpetual fund's rolling duration.sec.gov
• Hundreds of investment-grade corporate bonds in one wrapper, with each issuer needing $300 million or more of face value to enter the index. One sour name gets diluted.sec.gov
• 0.10% a year, level with Invesco's 2029 BulletShares rung (BSCT) and at the cohort median, and it sits among the more tradable names in this group.
• Pays monthly, and the 2029 rung slots beside other dated funds if you want a ladder with set end dates rather than a rolling maturity.ishares.com

Worth knowing

• IBDT Vanguard's VBCB targets the same 2028 corporate maturity for 0.08%, two basis points cheaper.
• This is corporate credit, not Treasuries. The bonds are investment grade, but downgrades and defaults are still part of the picture.
• It has a finish line. When the 2028 term ends the strategy is over, so the what-next decision lands back with you.ishares.com

• IBDU Not a bond held to par: the fund does not seek to return any predetermined amount at maturity or in periodic distributions, and price moves with rates and credit until then.sec.gov
• In the final months, the bonds mature into cash and cash-like instruments, so the fund's yield drifts toward prevailing money market rates before the wind-up.ishares.com
• Corporate credit, not government paper, and the index includes non-US developed-market issuers. The same-year iShares Treasury rung (IBTJ) charges 0.07%.sec.gov

Full IBDT profile⁠

Full IBDU profile⁠