SPTI vs XFIV

SPTIAState Street SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term Treasury ETF

XFIVABondBloxx Bloomberg Five Year Target Duration US Treasury ETF

In short

SPTI Middle-of-the-curve Treasuries and nothing else: notes maturing in 3 to 10 years, wrapped at 0.03% a year. Running since 2007, it is one of the cheapest ways to own that slice of the government bond market.

XFIV Most "intermediate" Treasury funds sort bonds by maturity and let their interest-rate sensitivity wander. XFIV pins it down: two duration buckets, blended every month, to hold the portfolio near the five-year point on the curve.

Stated mandate

SPTI The fund seeks to deliver returns generally matching the Bloomberg 3-10 Year U.S. Treasury Index before fees and expenses, investing in U.S. Treasury securities with remaining maturities of 3 to 10 years.

XFIV The Fund seeks to track an index of U.S. Treasury securities with duration between 4 and 6 years.

Why people hold it

• SPTI 0.03% a year sits in the cheapest tier of intermediate Treasury funds, well under the category norm and level with Schwab's SCHR at the floor.
• No credit guesswork. Roughly a hundred US Treasury notes, held to mirror the Bloomberg 3-10 Year U.S. Treasury Index.ssga.com
• Index tracking has been among the tightest in its peer group, and income lands monthly.
• Launched in 2007 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so getting in and out is rarely the hard part.

• XFIV Duration is the product, not a byproduct. The index blends two buckets of 4-to-6 year Treasuries and rebalances monthly to hold an average duration near five years.sec.gov
• 0.05% a year, a third of the typical fee among intermediate Treasury funds.
• Nothing to underwrite but Uncle Sam. Government paper only, no credit or mortgage detours, and it holds up as one of the stronger implementations in its peer group.
• Pays monthly, part of a 2022 BondBloxx suite spanning eight duration targets from six months to twenty years.prnewswire.com

Worth knowing

• SPTI Intermediate maturities carry real rate sensitivity: a 3-to-10-year book swings more when yields move than a short-bill fund does.
• Treasuries only. No corporates, mortgages or inflation-linked bonds, which makes it a building block rather than a full bond allocation.
• The monthly payout floats with whatever the Treasury curve is paying, so it moves with rates rather than sitting at a set level.

• XFIV Cheap, not the floor: SPTI and SCHR charge 0.03% for broad intermediate Treasury exposure.
• Five years of duration cuts both ways: roughly a 5% price move for every 1 point shift in rates, in either direction.
• Moderately traded rather than a volume giant, and the duration target is only reset at each monthly rebalance, so it can drift in between.sec.gov

Full SPTI profile⁠

Full XFIV profile⁠