IBIL vs STIP

IBILCiShares iBonds Oct 2035 Term TIPS ETF

STIPAiShares 0-5 Year TIPS Bond ETF

In short

IBIL Inflation-linked Treasuries with an end date. IBIL holds TIPS maturing in 2035 and tracks an ICE index, so it acts like one rung of a bond ladder instead of a fund that rolls on forever. Fee: 0.10%.

STIP The short-fuse inflation hedge. STIP holds only inflation-linked Treasuries maturing inside five years, keeping the inflation link while sidestepping most of the long-bond rate swings. Three basis points a year.

Stated mandate

IBIL The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities maturing in 2035.

STIP The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. Treasury inflation-protected securities with maturities under five years, offering inflation hedging while managing duration risk.

Why people hold it

• IBIL Every bond in it is a 2035-maturity TIPS, so inflation-linked Treasury exposure arrives with a target date attached rather than as a perpetual, always-rolling portfolio.
• 0.10% expense ratio, level with the typical fee across maturity-dated bond ETFs.
• Rules-based and plain: it tracks the ICE 2035 Maturity US Inflation-Linked Treasury Index, and the paper inside is US Treasury debt.ishares.com
• Distributions land quarterly, and TIPS coupons are paid on principal that adjusts with inflation.

• STIP Three basis points a year, roughly a quarter of the typical fee in its Treasury ETF group. On cost, this is near the floor for bond funds.
• Maturities capped under five years by design, so the inflation adjustment stays and the long-duration price swings largely do not.
• Running since 2010, a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively. Plain index construction, US Treasuries only.
• Sits in the upper half of the Treasury bond ETFs we cover, one of the stronger short-maturity builds in that group.

Worth knowing

• IBIL A small, lightly traded fund, so spreads can run wider than on the crowded rungs of the ladder.
• Launched in 2025, giving it a short record next to long-running maturity-dated lineups. On our peer measures it sits in the lower half of the group.
• Because payouts track inflation readings, income moves around instead of sitting fixed, and real-yield swings still move the price before 2035.

• STIP Short bonds accrue less inflation compensation than long-dated TIPS, and prices still move with real yields. This is a dampened hedge, not a pure one.
• Distributions are irregular. Payouts ride the inflation adjustment, so income arrives lumpy rather than as a steady check.
• Around 25 bonds, all at the front of the curve. SCHP spans the full TIPS maturity range for the same 0.03%.

Full IBIL profile⁠

Full STIP profile⁠