IEF vs SPTI

IEFBiShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF

SPTIAState Street SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term Treasury ETF

In short

IEF Since 2002, one clean slice of the Treasury curve: government bonds maturing in seven to ten years, nothing shorter, nothing longer. It is among the most actively traded funds in its category.

SPTI Middle-of-the-curve Treasuries and nothing else: notes maturing in 3 to 10 years, wrapped at 0.03% a year. Running since 2007, it is one of the cheapest ways to own that slice of the government bond market.

Stated mandate

IEF The fund seeks to track the ICE U.S. Treasury 7-10 Year Bond Index, which represents publicly issued U.S. Treasury obligations with remaining maturities from seven through ten years.

SPTI The fund seeks to deliver returns generally matching the Bloomberg 3-10 Year U.S. Treasury Index before fees and expenses, investing in U.S. Treasury securities with remaining maturities of 3 to 10 years.

Why people hold it

• IEF The mandate is narrow on purpose: Treasuries maturing in seven to ten years. Broad 3-10 year rivals like VGIT blend in shorter paper, so this is intermediate duration undiluted.vanguard.com
• Running since 2002 and now one of the largest, most heavily traded funds in its corner of the bond market, which tends to show up as tight spreads on screen.
• Tracking has been close: the fund has stayed near its ICE index rather than drifting, and it hands cash back monthly.
• Pure US government paper, so the portfolio carries no corporate credit risk and no currency exposure.

• SPTI 0.03% a year sits in the cheapest tier of intermediate Treasury funds, well under the category norm and level with Schwab's SCHR at the floor.
• No credit guesswork. Roughly a hundred US Treasury notes, held to mirror the Bloomberg 3-10 Year U.S. Treasury Index.ssga.com
• Index tracking has been among the tightest in its peer group, and income lands monthly.
• Launched in 2007 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so getting in and out is rarely the hard part.

Worth knowing

• IEF At 0.15% a year, this is not the budget door. The cohort median is nearer 0.12%, and VGIT, SPTI and SCHR all charge 0.03%. The premium buys scale and liquidity, not cheapness.
• Seven to ten year bonds react more sharply to rate moves than short-dated Treasuries, so price swings can be real even with government credit behind them.ishares.com
• No corporates, no foreign debt, no shorter maturities. Anyone wanting one all-in-one bond sleeve is only getting a single segment of the curve here.

• SPTI Intermediate maturities carry real rate sensitivity: a 3-to-10-year book swings more when yields move than a short-bill fund does.
• Treasuries only. No corporates, mortgages or inflation-linked bonds, which makes it a building block rather than a full bond allocation.
• The monthly payout floats with whatever the Treasury curve is paying, so it moves with rates rather than sitting at a set level.

Full IEF profile⁠

Full SPTI profile⁠