IGLB vs SPLB

IGLBAiShares 10+ Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

SPLBAState Street SPDR Portfolio Long Term Corporate Bond ETF

In short

IGLB The long end of the iShares corporate ladder: only investment-grade company bonds with more than ten years left to run. Interest-rate sensitivity isn't a side effect here, it's the design.

SPLB SPLB owns the long end of the corporate bond market, investment-grade debt maturing in 10 years or more, for four basis points a year. Maximum duration exposure at a near-free price.

Stated mandate

IGLB The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. dollar-denominated investment-grade corporate bonds with remaining maturities longer than ten years. It provides exposure to long-duration, high-quality corporate credit and seeks income.

SPLB The fund seeks to track the Bloomberg U.S. Long Term Corporate Bond Index, which represents U.S. corporate bonds with maturities of at least 10 years.

Why people hold it

• IGLB Fee is 0.04% a year, a sliver of what the typical investment-grade corporate bond fund charges.
• Roughly 3,800 bonds in one ticker, with income paid out monthly rather than quarterly.
• The 10+ slice of a maturity-cut iShares lineup (IGSB 1-5, IGIB 5-10), so duration is chosen by picking a slice instead of blending funds.
• Tracks the ICE BofA 10+ Year US Corporate Index closely and trades actively, putting it among the stronger builds in a crowded corporate bond field.

• SPLB Charges 0.04% a year, far under the typical investment-grade corporate bond ETF.
• Roughly 2,900 bonds tracking the Bloomberg U.S. Long Term Corporate Bond Index, so no single issuer steers the fund.ssga.com
• Coupons pass through monthly, and the fund has been running since 2009 with steady trading volume behind it.
• Tracks its index tightly and ranks among the stronger builds in the investment-grade corporate group.

Worth knowing

• IGLB Ten-years-and-out maturities mean the sharpest price swings in investment-grade corporates when yields move. Duration is the feature and the risk.
• Company bonds, not Treasuries: prices react to credit spreads as well as rates, and investment grade still carries downgrade risk.
• No short-maturity ballast by design, so nothing inside the fund steadies the ride when the long end sells off.

• SPLB Ten-year-plus maturities swing hard when rates move. Intermediate SPIB or short-dated IGSB cover the same credit with far less rate sensitivity.
• Pure corporate credit, no Treasury ballast, so prices fall when spreads widen.
• US issuers only. No overseas corporate exposure here.

Full IGLB profile⁠

Full SPLB profile⁠