STIP vs TIPB

STIPAiShares 0-5 Year TIPS Bond ETF

TIPBBNorthern Trust 2035 Inflation-Linked Distributing Ladder ETF

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.

TIPB Most target-maturity bond ETFs ladder nominal bonds and pay fixed coupons. This one holds U.S. Treasury inflation-protected securities and makes periodic inflation-linked payouts of income and, at times, principal, winding down through 2035.

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.

TIPB The Fund seeks periodic inflation-linked distributions from U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, consisting of income and/or principal through 2035.

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.

• TIPB Built on U.S. TIPS, so the distributions it aims to pay track inflation-adjusted Treasury cash flows rather than fixed coupons.
• 0.10% expense ratio, sitting right at the median for target-maturity bond funds.
• Peers like IBTJ, BSCT and IBDU ladder nominal bonds. TIPB runs the same defined-term playbook with inflation-protected Treasuries instead.
• Narrow, checkable mandate: U.S. inflation-protected Treasuries with a 2035 end date, and the portfolio hews closely to it.

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%.

• TIPB Payouts are periodic and irregular and can include return of principal, so the cash stream varies and the pot is designed to shrink toward 2035.
• Small asset base and thin trading, so the bid-ask spread can matter more to your cost than the 0.10% fee.
• Launched in 2025, so there is only a short live record of tracking and distribution behavior to examine.

Full STIP profile⁠

Full TIPB profile⁠