SPIP vs STIP

SPIPBState Street SPDR Portfolio TIPS ETF

STIPAiShares 0-5 Year TIPS Bond ETF

In short

SPIP SPIP owns the whole U.S. TIPS curve in one wrapper: government bonds built to move with inflation, roughly 60 of them, for 0.12% a year. A 2007-vintage, no-gimmick way to rent the real-yield side of Treasuries.

STIP The short-fuse inflation hedge. STIP holds only inflation-linked Treasuries maturing inside five years, keeping the inflation link while sidestepping most of the long-bond rate swings. Three basis points a year.

Stated mandate

SPIP The fund seeks to track the price and yield performance of the Bloomberg U.S. Government Inflation-Linked Bond Index before fees and expenses, providing exposure to U.S. Treasury inflation-protected securities.

STIP The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. Treasury inflation-protected securities with maturities under five years, offering inflation hedging while managing duration risk.

Why people hold it

• SPIP Sticks close to its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Government Inflation-Linked Bond Index, and rates as one of the tighter index fits in its broad Treasury peer group.
• Full-curve exposure: short, intermediate and long inflation-protected Treasuries in one ticket, so you skip the maturity-picking.
• 0.12% a year lands right at the median fee for broad Treasury ETFs, on a billion-dollar-plus fund that sees steady everyday volume.
• Trading since 2007, giving it a long live record across both the dead-quiet inflation years and the loud ones.

• STIP Three basis points a year, roughly a quarter of the typical fee in its Treasury ETF group. On cost, this is near the floor for bond funds.
• Maturities capped under five years by design, so the inflation adjustment stays and the long-duration price swings largely do not.
• Running since 2010, a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively. Plain index construction, US Treasuries only.
• Sits in the upper half of the Treasury bond ETFs we cover, one of the stronger short-maturity builds in that group.

Worth knowing

• SPIP Cheaper versions of the same broad idea exist. VTP charges 0.05%, so SPIP's 0.12% is a real premium for inflation-linked Treasuries.
• Holding long-dated TIPS means real-rate moves push the price around. Inflation protection is not the same thing as price stability.
• Payouts are irregular by design, because inflation accruals on TIPS arrive unevenly. Not a metronome-steady income stream.

• STIP Short bonds accrue less inflation compensation than long-dated TIPS, and prices still move with real yields. This is a dampened hedge, not a pure one.
• Distributions are irregular. Payouts ride the inflation adjustment, so income arrives lumpy rather than as a steady check.
• Around 25 bonds, all at the front of the curve. SCHP spans the full TIPS maturity range for the same 0.03%.

Full SPIP profile⁠

Full STIP profile⁠