STIP vs STPZ

STIPAiShares 0-5 Year TIPS Bond ETF

STPZCPIMCO 1-5 Year U.S. TIPS Index Exchange-Traded Fund

In short

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.

STPZ Inflation protection on a short leash. STPZ indexes only TIPS maturing in one to five years, pairing CPI-linked principal with less rate sensitivity than long-dated linkers. It has worked this niche since 2009, at a fee above the category norm.

Stated mandate

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.

STPZ The Fund seeks total return that closely tracks its specified U.S. inflation-linked Treasury index before fees and expenses. It uses indexing and representative sampling rather than trying to outperform the index.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• STPZ The benchmark holds Treasury inflation-linked bonds maturing in one to five years: you get the CPI adjustment to principal without the price swings of 20-year linkers.yahoo.com
• Straight indexing. PIMCO uses representative sampling to track the benchmark rather than trying to beat it, so the name on the tin is what you own.pimco.com
• Live since 2009 and moderately traded, so ordinary retail-size orders in a niche corner of the Treasury market usually don't have to hunt for a counterparty.

Worth knowing

• 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%.

• STPZ Cost is the trade-off: 0.20% a year, above the 0.12% typical of Treasury bond ETFs, while index peers such as SCHP and VGIT charge 0.03%.
• Distributions are irregular. TIPS income moves with inflation accruals, so payouts arrive unevenly rather than as a level check.
• Narrow by design: roughly two dozen short-dated government bonds. No corporate credit, no long end, so it behaves nothing like a core bond holding.

Full STIP profile⁠

Full STPZ profile⁠