ISTB vs NUSA: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF

ISTBANasdaq

Nuveen ESG 1-5 Year U.S. Aggregate Bond

NUSACNYSE Arca

Overlap

No data

Expense ratio

ISTB −0.08pt a year

ISTB0.06%NUSA0.14%

Avg volume · 30D

ISTB 70.6×the volume

ISTB523KNUSA7.41K

5Y return · a year

ISTB +0.4pt

ISTB+2.1%NUSA+1.7%

ISTB vs NUSA Performance

Oct 29, 2021 – Oct 30, 2026

+10.8%ISTB+8.7%NUSA

Expense ratio: ISTB 0.06%, better; NUSA 0.14%
Fund size: ISTB $5.35B; NUSA $37M
1Y total return: ISTB +1.7%, better; NUSA +1.3%
Yield (12M): ISTB 4.34%, better; NUSA 3.92%
Holdings: ISTB 7551; NUSA 356
Avg volume (30D): ISTB 523K sh, better; NUSA 7.41K sh
NAV per share: ISTB $47.59; NUSA $22.88
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for ISTB, NUSA, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	ISTB	NUSA
Cost30% weight	A89Higher	A72
Mission25% weight	Not scored	Not scored
Risk15% weight	C45Higher	C43
Tradability15% weight	A73Higher	D38
Holdings10% weight	A79Higher	D38
Durability5% weight	A90Higher	D38

Rank among Short-Term Core Bond funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. ISTB and NUSA are both graded against the same 12 Short-Term Core Bond funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

Short-Term Core Bond⁠

Category · 12 funds

See all 12 ›

ISTB ranks 2nd and NUSA 7th of 12 funds in the Short-Term Core Bond Category.

Rank 1ABSVVanguard Short-Term Bond ETFScore 80
Rank 2AISTBiShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETFScore 75
Rank 3BAVSFAvantis Short-Term Fixed Income ETFScore 61
Rank 6CEVSDEaton Vance Short Duration Income ETFScore 53
Rank 7CNUSANuveen ESG 1-5 Year U.S. Aggregate BondScore 52
Rank 8CSBNDColumbia Short Duration Bond ETFScore 45

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

ISTBAiShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF

NUSACNuveen ESG 1-5 Year U.S. Aggregate Bond

In short

ISTB The Agg with the long end trimmed off, plus a dash of high yield. ISTB tracks a broad USD bond index that stops at five-year maturities, so you get core bond plumbing with a fraction of the rate sensitivity, for six basis points.

NUSA An ESG screen applied to the quiet end of the bond market: roughly 300 investment-grade bonds maturing inside five years, for 0.14% a year while the typical core-bond fund charges more than double that.

Stated mandate

ISTB The fund seeks to track an index of U.S.-dollar bonds rated investment grade or high yield, with remaining maturities from one to five years.

NUSA The fund seeks to track the investment results of its index, which is designed to capture the 1-5 year segment of the U.S. aggregate bond market.

Why people hold it

ISTB Six basis points a year, a fraction of the typical broad bond ETF fee. On a bond fund, every basis point of fee comes straight out of the income you keep.ishares.com
The index casts a wider credit net than the Agg: investment grade plus high yield, thousands of individual bonds deep.ishares.com
Nothing in the index matures past five years, so the portfolio carries far less interest-rate sensitivity than full-maturity core bond funds like BND, SPAB or SCHZ.ishares.com
Running since 2012, multi-billion-dollar, actively traded, and it pays income monthly rather than quarterly.

NUSA 0.14% a year against a core-bond peer median closer to 0.36%. Getting a values screen without paying a premium for it is unusual.
Follows the Bloomberg MSCI 1-5 Year U.S. Aggregate ESG Select Index, so the screen is published index rules rather than a manager's discretion.
Holding the 1-5 year slice of the aggregate market mechanically dampens price swings when rates move, versus a fund that owns the full maturity ladder.
Pays monthly and has been running since 2017, a long history for an ESG-screened bond index fund.

Worth knowing

ISTB The high yield sleeve adds credit risk that investment-grade-only short bond funds skip.ishares.com
Short maturities cut both ways: smaller price swings when rates rise, and less lift when they fall.
Not a cash substitute. The share price moves daily, and maturing bonds get replaced at whatever rates prevail, so the monthly payout drifts.ishares.com

NUSA A small fund that trades thinly, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the household-name core bond ETFs.
Unscreened rivals such as BND, SPAB and SCHZ charge 0.03%. The ESG filter here costs about a tenth of a percentage point more per year.
The screen leaves out issuers a standard aggregate index holds, and the short maturity band is a different job from a full-market core bond position.

Full ISTB profile⁠

Full NUSA profile⁠

ISTB vs NUSA Holdings

How ISTB and NUSA differ

No overlap figure

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues.

Level by level

Countryby domicile90.8%
Asset classFixed Income100%

Sector

No Sector split for NUSA.

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in ISTB and NUSA, widest gap first
Country	More in ISTBMore in NUSA	ISTB	NUSA
United States	NUSA +8.1 points	84.3%	92.4%
Cayman Islands	ISTB +3.3 points	3.5%	0.2%
United Kingdom	ISTB +0.7 points	1.4%	0.7%
Hong Kong	ISTB +0.6 points	0.6%	0.0%
Netherlands	ISTB +0.5 points	0.5%	0.0%
Other countries (35)	ISTB +3.1 points	9.7%	6.6%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

ISTB8.5%
NUSA23.8%

Securities held

ISTB7,496
NUSA355

Asset class

ISTB: Fixed Income
NUSA: Fixed Income

Holdings

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues, so this page lists no shared Holdings. ISTB holds 7,496 securities, NUSA 355.

All 7,582 ISTB holdings⁠All 356 NUSA holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

ISTB vs NUSA Cost

Overpaying NUSA vs ISTB

$1,662

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

ISTB 0.06%
$1,270
NUSA 0.14%
$2,932

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

ISTB 0.06%
NUSA 0.14%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	ISTB	NUSA	Overpaying
10	$110	$256	$146
20	$432	$1,000	$568
30	$1,270	$2,932	$1,662

Expense ratio

0.06%ISTB, cheaper
0.14%NUSA

ISTB0.06%NUSA0.14%

0.03%0.45%

Middle half of Short-Term Core Bond funds
Median 0.20%

ISTB 2nd cheapest of 12 funds

NUSA 4th cheapest of 12 funds

ISTB vs NUSA Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): ISTB 4.34%, better; NUSA 3.92%
Payout (12M): ISTB $2.07; NUSA $0.90
Last payment: ISTB $0.17; NUSA $0.08
Ex-dividend: ISTB Oct 1, 2026; NUSA Oct 1, 2026
Paid on: ISTB Oct 6, 2026; NUSA Oct 2, 2026
Frequency: ISTB Monthly; NUSA Monthly

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

ISTBMonthly · 45 paymentsAll ISTB payments⁠

NUSAMonthly · 46 paymentsAll NUSA payments⁠

ISTB vs NUSA Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

ISTB
NUSA

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: ISTB 2.5%NUSA 2.5%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: ISTB 0.24, betterNUSA 0.003
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: ISTB −8.8%NUSA −8.8%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: ISTB 0.39NUSA 0.40; Market = 1

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