QLTA vs USIG: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

iShares Aaa - A Rated Corporate Bond ETF

QLTAANYSE Arca

iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

USIGANasdaq

Overlap

No data

Expense ratio

USIG −0.11pt a year

QLTA0.15%USIG0.04%

Avg volume · 30D

USIG 8.0×the volume

QLTA271KUSIG2.16M

10Y return · a year

USIG +0.5pt

QLTA+1.8%USIG+2.3%

QLTA vs USIG Performance

Oct 29, 2021 – Oct 30, 2026

−2.2%QLTA+0.8%USIG

Expense ratio: QLTA 0.15%; USIG 0.04%, better
Fund size: QLTA $1.19B; USIG $18B
1Y total return: QLTA −0.9%; USIG −0.4%, better
Yield (12M): QLTA 4.68%; USIG 4.92%, better
Holdings: QLTA 3539; USIG 11595
Avg volume (30D): QLTA 271K sh; USIG 2.16M sh, better
NAV per share: QLTA $45.88; USIG $49.53
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for QLTA, USIG, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	QLTA	USIG
Cost30% weight	A78	A98Higher
Mission25% weight	A100	A100
Risk15% weight	C41	C48Higher
Tradability15% weight	A83	A95Higher
Holdings10% weight	A89	A97Higher
Durability5% weight	A83	A92Higher

Rank among Investment Grade Corporate funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. QLTA and USIG are both graded against the same 49 Investment Grade Corporate funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

Investment Grade Corporate⁠

Category · 49 funds

See all 49 ›

USIG ranks 1st and QLTA 4th of 49 funds in the Investment Grade Corporate Category.

Rank 1AUSIGiShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFScore 90
Rank 2ASPBOState Street SPDR Portfolio Corporate Bond ETFScore 89
Rank 4AGIGBGoldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFScore 80
Rank 4AQLTAiShares Aaa - A Rated Corporate Bond ETFScore 80
Rank 6AIGEBiShares Investment Grade Systematic Bond ETFScore 79

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

QLTAAiShares Aaa - A Rated Corporate Bond ETF

USIGAiShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

In short

QLTA "Investment grade" spans a lot of ground, and its bottom rung sits one downgrade from junk. QLTA cuts that rung out and holds only Aaa through A corporate bonds: the credit-quality purist of the corporate bond aisle, running since 2012.

USIG Most investment-grade corporate bond funds hand you one slice of the maturity curve. USIG takes the whole thing, thousands of US dollar corporate bonds from short-dated to long, for four basis points a year.

Stated mandate

QLTA The fund seeks to track an index of U.S.-dollar investment-grade corporate bonds rated Aaa through A.

USIG The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. dollar-denominated investment-grade corporate bonds.

Why people hold it

QLTA The whole design in one line: only Aaa through A rated corporate bonds, so the BBB tier that sits a single notch above junk never enters the portfolio.ishares.com
Charges 0.15% a year, below the typical fee among investment-grade corporate bond ETFs.
Spreads across thousands of bonds from US and non-US corporations, and pays income monthly.ishares.com
Has hugged its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Corporate Aaa - A Capped Index, closely since launching in 2012, one of the tighter implementations in its peer group.

USIG Costs 0.04% a year, against a category median near 0.19%. CORP, which tracks the same ICE BofA US Corporate Index, charges 0.41%.
One ticker, the full USD investment-grade corporate curve: thousands of bonds, short to long. Slice funds like IGSB (1-5 year) and IGIB (5-10 year) each cover one segment.ishares.com
Running since 2007, it has tracked its index with very little drift and is one of the more actively traded funds in its category.
Interest lands monthly, and this is a multi-billion-dollar fund that ranks among the strongest implementations in its peer group.

Worth knowing

QLTA The quality filter has a price. Broad investment-grade rivals such as USIG and VCIT own the full ladder, BBB included, for a fraction of this fee.
High ratings are credit protection, not rate protection. This is still a corporate bond fund, and its share price moves when interest rates move.ishares.com
A multi-billion-dollar fund, but a moderately traded one rather than a household-name corporate bond ETF, so spreads can widen when markets get busy.

USIG Owning the whole curve means long-dated bonds ride along, so the price swings more when rates move than a short-maturity slice such as IGSB.
This is corporate credit, not Treasuries. Investment grade at purchase, but prices can fall when spreads widen or an issuer is downgraded.ishares.com
VCIT edges it on fee at 0.03%, though that fund stays in intermediate maturities rather than the full curve.

Full QLTA profile⁠

Full USIG profile⁠

QLTA vs USIG Holdings

How QLTA and USIG differ

No overlap figure

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues.

Level by level

Sector20 Sectors83.2%
Countryby domicile92.4%
Asset classFixed Income100%

Sector

Sector weights in QLTA and USIG, widest gap first
Sector	More in QLTAMore in USIG	QLTA	USIG
Banking	QLTA +13.1 points	37.8%	24.7%
Energy	USIG +3.1 points	4.6%	7.7%
Health Care	QLTA +2.8 points	12.1%	9.3%
Communications	USIG +2.5 points	5.0%	7.5%
Owned No Guarantee	USIG +2.5 points	0.0%	2.5%
Insurance	USIG +2.5 points	4.6%	7.1%
Finance Companies	USIG +1.5 points	0.0%	1.5%
Basic Industry	USIG +1.5 points	1.6%	3.1%
Electric	USIG +1.4 points	8.2%	9.6%
Reits	USIG +0.6 points	1.9%	2.5%
Transportation	QLTA +0.4 points	2.5%	2.1%
Brokerage/Asset Managers/Exchanges	QLTA +0.4 points	2.2%	1.8%
Natural Gas	USIG +0.4 points	0.5%	0.9%
Capital Goods	USIG +0.3 points	5.5%	5.8%
Consumer Non-Cyclical	USIG +0.1 points	5.6%	5.7%
Consumer Discretionary	USIG +0.1 points	7.8%	7.9%
Sovereign	USIG +0.1 points	0.0%	0.1%
Local Government No Guarantee	Same weight	0.0%	0.0%
Government Sponsored	Same weight	0.0%	0.0%
Real Estate	Same weight	0.0%	0.0%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in QLTA and USIG, widest gap first
Country	More in QLTAMore in USIG	QLTA	USIG
United States	QLTA +6.1 points	85.6%	79.5%
France	USIG +1.2 points	0.5%	1.7%
Cayman Islands	USIG +1.2 points	0.0%	1.2%
Japan	QLTA +0.8 points	3.1%	2.3%
Netherlands	USIG +0.7 points	0.5%	1.2%
Ireland	USIG +0.6 points	0.1%	0.7%
Other countries (32)	USIG +3.2 points	10.3%	13.5%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

QLTA2.2%
USIG0.9%

Securities held

QLTA3,537
USIG11,584

Asset class

QLTA: Fixed Income
USIG: Fixed Income

Holdings

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues, so this page lists no shared Holdings. QLTA holds 3,537 securities, USIG 11,584.

All 3,563 QLTA holdings⁠All 11,630 USIG 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.

QLTA vs USIG Cost

Overpaying QLTA vs USIG

$2,288

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

QLTA 0.15%
$3,137
USIG 0.04%
$849

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

QLTA 0.15%
USIG 0.04%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	QLTA	USIG	Overpaying
10	$274	$73	$201
20	$1,071	$288	$783
30	$3,137	$849	$2,288

Expense ratio

0.15%QLTA
0.04%USIG, cheaper

USIG0.04%QLTA0.15%

0.03%0.53%

Middle half of Investment Grade Corporate funds
Median 0.25%

USIG 3rd cheapest of 49 funds

QLTA 10th cheapest of 49 funds

QLTA vs USIG Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): QLTA 4.68%; USIG 4.92%, better
Payout (12M): QLTA $2.15; USIG $2.44
Last payment: QLTA $0.18; USIG $0.21
Ex-dividend: QLTA Oct 1, 2026; USIG Oct 1, 2026
Paid on: QLTA Oct 6, 2026; USIG Oct 6, 2026
Frequency: QLTA Monthly; USIG Monthly

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

QLTAMonthly · 45 paymentsAll QLTA payments⁠

USIGMonthly · 45 paymentsAll USIG payments⁠

QLTA vs USIG Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

QLTA
USIG

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: QLTA 6.3%USIG 6.1%, better
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: QLTA 0.21USIG 0.34, better
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: QLTA −21.0%, betterUSIG −21.1%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: QLTA 1.10USIG 1.04; Market = 1

QLTA and USIG in the news

All news⁠

Best ETFs
Best bond ETFs for a portfolio hold the whole investment-grade market
Updated Nov 2, 2026USIG
Best ETFs
Best bond ETFs: LQD, HYG and TLT cost more than the funds beside them
Updated Oct 2, 2026USIG

Popular comparisons

QLTAAvsSPBOA
iShares Aaa - A Rated Corporate Bond ETF · State Street SPDR Portfolio Corporate Bond ETF
Expense ratio
0.15% · 0.03%
Category
USIGAvsSPBOA
iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF · State Street SPDR Portfolio Corporate Bond ETF
Expense ratio
0.04% · 0.03%
Category
QLTAAvsVTCA
iShares Aaa - A Rated Corporate Bond ETF · Vanguard Total Corporate Bond ETF
Expense ratio
0.15% · 0.03%
Category
USIGAvsVTCA
iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF · Vanguard Total Corporate Bond ETF
Expense ratio
0.04% · 0.03%
Category
QLTAAvsGIGBA
iShares Aaa - A Rated Corporate Bond ETF · Goldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF
Expense ratio
0.15% · 0.08%
Category
USIGAvsGIGBA
iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF · Goldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF
Expense ratio
0.04% · 0.08%
Category

QLTA vs USIG

In short

Stated mandate

Why people hold it

Worth knowing

How QLTA and USIG differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings

Cost over time

Year by year

Distribution history

Fall from peak · 5 years

Risk facts

Best bond ETFs for a portfolio hold the whole investment-grade market

Best bond ETFs: LQD, HYG and TLT cost more than the funds beside them

How QLTA and USIG differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings