Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
HTRB vs SYSB: Differences, Returns & Fees
On Jul 31, 2026 HTRB's duration was 6.3 years and SYSB's 5.9; SYSB charges 0.25% to HTRB's 0.29%.
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Net assets: $2.2bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Hartford Total Return Bond ETF, and $1.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Systematic Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
SYSB costs 0.04 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.1 points.
| Measure | HTRB | SYSB |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −2.0% | −1.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.2%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | 3.3%, high on Feb 27, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | BlackRock Universal Systematic Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.29% | 0.25% |
| Net assets, HTRB as of Jul 31, 2026 and SYSB as of Oct 27, 2026 | $2.2bn | $1.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 8% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Oct 6, 2017 to Oct 23, 2026 · 472 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: HTRB against AGG, Oct 6, 2017 to Oct 23, 2026; SYSB against IUSB, Mar 6, 2015 to Oct 23, 2026.
HTRB and SYSB returned about the same: +18.2% and +18.0%. SYSB swung slightly less: 5.6% to 5.8%. SYSB fell slightly less at its worst: −17.9% to −19.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | HTRB | SYSB | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +18.2% | +18.0% | Tie | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +1.9% | +1.8% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −18.9% | −15.2% | SYSB | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 5.8% | 5.6% | SYSB (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 4.4% | 4.2% | SYSB (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −19.2% | −17.9% | SYSB (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 96.3% | 72.5% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 94.6% | 71.4% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.01 | 0.85 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.88 | 0.75 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.12 | −0.13 | HTRB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.15 | −0.17 | HTRB (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.007 | 0.001 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.10 | 0.10 | SYSB (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGG | IUSB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.5% a year | +0.2% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.66 | 0.29 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.9% to +1.8% | −1.2% to +1.7% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.22 | 0.09 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 2.0% | 2.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 472 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, HTRB and SYSB hold 8% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026.
half
8% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
HTRB and SYSB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
HTRB and SYSB are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. HTRB follows No index, actively managed and SYSB follows BlackRock Universal Systematic Bond Index.
- Holdings in common. 8% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026).
- One-year total return (similar). Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 HTRB returned −2.0% and SYSB −1.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 0.1 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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HTRB
HTRB is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −2.0% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.29% a year. It sat 3.2% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
SYSB
SYSB tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.9% with distributions reinvested, against −1.2% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.25% a year. It sat 3.3% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, HTRB or SYSB?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HTRB returned −2.0% and SYSB −1.9%.
- Which is cheaper, HTRB or SYSB?
- SYSB is cheaper, by 0.04 percentage points a year. That is about $4 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, HTRB against SYSB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/htrb-vs-sysb
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). HTRB against SYSB. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/htrb-vs-sysb
[HTRB against SYSB (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/htrb-vs-sysb)
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