Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
DBMF vs TLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, DBMF returned +22.1% to TLT's −7.9%, and TLT charges 0.15% to DBMF's 0.85%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $5.2bn for iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF and $47.4bn for iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
TLT costs 0.70 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 30.0 points; TLT is 9.1 times larger.
| Measure | DBMF | TLT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +22.1% | −7.9% |
| Total return, 52 weeks | +22.5% | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 42.6%, high on Aug 4, 2020 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | not published | ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index |
| Treasury bills, 52 weeks | +3.6% | |
| Against cash | 18.8 points ahead | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $5.2bn | $47.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Risk | ||
| Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns | +0.26 | |
| Beta to the S&P 500 | +0.21: about 0.21% for each 1% | |
| Its average week when the S&P 500 fell | fell 0.21% | |
| Down-week capture | 19.1% | |
| Weeks the S&P 500 fell | 26 of 52, by 1.10% on average | |
Risk and return
May 17, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026 · 388 weekly returnsDBMF returned more: +95.4% to −19.6%. DBMF swung less: 11.4% to 15.1%. DBMF fell less at its worst: −19.9% to −47.8%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DBMF | TLT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +95.4% | −19.6% | DBMF | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +9.4% | −2.9% | DBMF | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +27.6% | −35.4% | DBMF | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 11.4% | 15.1% | DBMF | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 8.1% | 11.1% | DBMF | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −19.9% | −47.8% | DBMF | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.60 | −0.31 | DBMF | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.84 | −0.42 | DBMF | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.47 | −0.06 | DBMF | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 388 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
DBMF and TLT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DBMF and TLT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 DBMF returned +22.1% and TLT −7.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 30.0 points.
- Cost. DBMF charges 0.85% of assets a year and TLT 0.15%, a gap of 0.70 points.
- Size. DBMF has $5.2bn in net assets and TLT $47.4bn (net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026); TLT is 9.1 times larger.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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DBMF
DBMF is a managed futures fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.26 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.21, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.21% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.10% on average. In the same weeks DBMF fell 0.21% on average, a down-week capture of 19.1%. Over the same 52 weeks DBMF returned +22.5% and a Treasury bill fund +3.6%, so it finished 18.8 percentage points ahead of cash.
TLT
TLT tracks an index of 20+ year Treasuries. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −7.9% with distributions reinvested, against −7.8% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. It sat 42.6% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are DBMF and TLT in the same category?
- DBMF is an alternatives ETF and TLT is a bond ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, DBMF or TLT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DBMF returned +22.1% and TLT −7.9%.
- Which is cheaper, DBMF or TLT?
- TLT is cheaper, by 0.70 percentage points a year. That is about $70 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, DBMF against TLT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dbmf-vs-tlt
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). DBMF against TLT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dbmf-vs-tlt
[DBMF against TLT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dbmf-vs-tlt)
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