STIP vs VTP

STIPAiShares 0-5 Year TIPS Bond ETF

VTPAVanguard Total Inflation-Protected Securities 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.

VTP Vanguard's ETF answer for the whole TIPS curve. It tracks a market-value-weighted index of Treasury inflation-linked bonds with at least a year left to run, charges five basis points, and opened for business in 2025.

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.

VTP The Fund passively tracks the full market of U.S. Treasury inflation-protected public obligations through the ICE U.S. Treasury 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.

• VTP Five basis points: under half the typical fund in its Treasury peer group, and well below the 0.12% charged by broad TIPS rival SPIP.
• Full-curve coverage. The index is market value weighted and takes inflation-protected Treasuries with at least one year to maturity, no upper limit, so no single maturity slice bet.ice.com
• Vanguard's other inflation-linked ETF stops below five years to maturity. This one is the long-end-included sibling, in the same low-cost index wrapper.vanguard.com
• The inflation link sits inside the bonds, not in a strategy overlay: principal and coupons are indexed to consumer prices, and the fund passes income through quarterly.vanguard.com

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%.

• VTP Owning the long end cuts both ways. Real-rate moves hit a full-maturity TIPS portfolio harder than a sub-five-year one, so expect more price movement.ice.comvanguard.com
• A 2025 launch means a short track record and thinner trading than the long-established TIPS funds, which can show up as wider bid-ask spreads.
• Payouts move with inflation adjustments rather than a fixed rate, and Vanguard discloses that a distribution can include return of capital.vanguard.com

Full STIP profile⁠

Full VTP profile⁠