STIP vs TIPZ

STIPAiShares 0-5 Year TIPS Bond ETF

TIPZCPIMCO Broad 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.

TIPZ PIMCO's plain-vanilla take on inflation protection: an index basket of inflation-linked U.S. Treasuries, running since 2009. Narrow mandate, no active tilts, and a price tag that sits above most funds doing the same job.

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.

TIPZ The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, an index made up of inflation-protected U.S. Treasury securities.

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.

• TIPZ One job, stated plainly: hold inflation-protected U.S. Treasuries and track an index of them. The inflation linkage is the whole product, not a sleeve buried inside a broader bond fund.
• Live since 2009, so it has traded through the zero-rate decade and the inflation spike that followed. A long operating history in a category full of newer entrants.
• Broad-maturity by design: it takes the whole TIPS curve rather than betting on short or long bonds, and it is U.S.-only, so there is no currency or foreign-issuer wrinkle.

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%.

• TIPZ Costs 0.20% a year against a 0.12% median for its Treasury cohort. SPIP (0.12%) and VTP (0.05%) charge less for similar inflation-linked exposure.
• A small fund that trades thinly, which usually shows up as wider bid-ask spreads than the category's largest names.
• Distributions arrive on an irregular cadence, because TIPS income rides on inflation adjustments to principal rather than a fixed coupon.

Full STIP profile⁠

Full TIPZ profile⁠