ILTB vs IUSB

ILTBAiShares Core 10+ Year USD Bond ETF

IUSBAiShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF

In short

ILTB Take the whole U.S. bond market and keep only the long end. ILTB tracks a Bloomberg index of dollar bonds maturing in 10+ years, investment grade and high yield alike, for six basis points.

IUSB Most core bond funds stop at investment grade. IUSB keeps going, folding high-yield USD debt into the same wrapper across roughly 18,000 bonds, for 0.06% a year.

Stated mandate

ILTB The fund seeks to track an index of U.S.-dollar-denominated investment-grade and high-yield bonds with remaining maturities above ten years.

IUSB The Fund seeks to track an index of U.S.-dollar-denominated bonds spanning investment-grade and high-yield sectors.

Why people hold it

• ILTB Costs 0.06% a year, a fraction of the typical fund in its broad-bond peer group, where the median is 0.36%.
• One ticker for the long maturity slice of the U.S. bond market: Treasuries, corporates and high yield, all 10+ years, via the Bloomberg U.S. Universal 10+ Year Index.
• Pays monthly and has been running since 2009, through several full rate cycles.
• Broad holdings and low fees put it in the top quartile of its 187-fund bond cohort on our review.

• IUSB 0.06% a year, a fraction of what the typical broad bond fund in its category charges, and iShares has run it since 2014.
• Roughly 18,000 bonds spanning investment-grade and high-yield sectors, so one ticker covers ground a plain Agg tracker leaves on the table.ishares.com
• Tracks its index closely, trades heavily, and sits on a multi-billion-dollar asset base. Income is paid monthly.
• Among the strongest implementations in a crowded field of nearly 200 core bond funds.

Worth knowing

• ILTB Long bonds only means outsized sensitivity to interest rates. Expect much bigger price swings than an aggregate fund like BND or SPAB.
• The index reaches past investment grade into high yield, so credit risk rides along with the duration.
• Moderately traded rather than a volume giant. Limit orders are the sane default.

• IUSB That high-yield sleeve is the trade-off: more credit risk than an investment-grade-only fund, and more movement when spreads widen.
• BND, SPAB and SCHZ charge 0.03%, half IUSB's fee, but they stay inside investment grade.
• Payouts land monthly, but the amount floats with the coupons underneath. Nothing about the income stream is fixed.

Full ILTB profile⁠

Full IUSB profile⁠