Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BND vs IEF: Differences, Returns & Fees
BND's duration was 5.7 years on Jun 30, 2026 and IEF's 7.0 on Aug 31, 2026; BND charges 0.03% to IEF's 0.15%.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about BND and IEF
Net assets: $161.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF, and $43.5bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
BND costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.9 points; BND is 3.9 times larger.
| Measure | BND | IEF |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −1.3% | −3.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.5%, high on Aug 6, 2020 | 13.1%, high on Aug 4, 2020 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index | ICE U.S. Treasury 7-10 Year Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $161.4bn | $41.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 5% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 20, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,018 weekly returnsIEF returned slightly more: +80.5% to +75.5%. BND swung less: 5.0% to 6.6%. BND fell less at its worst: −18.4% to −23.3%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BND | IEF | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +75.5% | +80.5% | IEF (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +2.9% | +3.1% | IEF (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −5.4% | +9.9% | IEF | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 5.0% | 6.6% | BND | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 3.7% | 4.7% | BND | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −18.4% | −23.3% | BND | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.29 | 0.25 | BND | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.39 | 0.36 | BND (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.16 | 0.13 | BND | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,018 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, BND and IEF hold 5% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
5% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
BND and IEF on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BND and IEF do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BND follows Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index and IEF follows ICE U.S. Treasury 7-10 Year Bond Index.
- Holdings in common. 5% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026).
- Number of holdings. BND holds 16,301 positions and IEF holds 17.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
BND
BND tracks an index of US aggregate bonds. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.3% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index, measured by the closely related Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 3.5% below its high of Aug 6, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.
IEF
IEF tracks an index of 7-10 Year Treasury Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.2% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. It sat 13.1% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, BND or IEF?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BND returned −1.3% and IEF −3.2%.
- Which is cheaper, BND or IEF?
- BND is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, BND against IEF, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-ief
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BND against IEF. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-ief
[BND against IEF (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-ief)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.