STIP vs TIPX

STIPAiShares 0-5 Year TIPS Bond ETF

TIPXBState Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-10 Year TIPS 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.

TIPX Inflation-linked Treasuries with the long end lopped off. TIPX tracks a Bloomberg index capped at 10-year maturities, keeping the CPI linkage without the price swings of the longest-dated bonds.

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.

TIPX The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Bloomberg 1-10 Year U.S Government Inflation-Linked Bond 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.

• TIPX Maturities stop at 10 years, trimming the longest inflation-linked Treasuries (the ones that move most on rate shifts) while keeping the CPI linkage.ssga.com
• A plain index fund since 2013: one Bloomberg benchmark, State Street plumbing, a multi-billion-dollar asset base and moderate daily trading volume.
• Holds a few dozen US government inflation-linked bonds directly, so no corporate credit rides along with the inflation hedge.

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%.

• TIPX The 0.15% fee sits above the typical Treasury-fund charge and well above broad TIPS options like SCHP at 0.03%. The maturity cap is what the extra buys.
• Distributions come on an irregular schedule and move with inflation adjustments, so this is not a steady, predictable income stream.
• Cutting the long end cuts both ways: less price movement from rate swings, but also less response when long-run inflation expectations shift.

Full STIP profile⁠

Full TIPX profile⁠