Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
HYG vs TLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
On Aug 31, 2026 HYG's duration was 2.9 years and TLT's 15.1; TLT charges 0.15% to HYG's 0.49%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $17.5bn for iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF and $47.4bn for iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
TLT costs 0.34 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 9.2 points; TLT is 2.7 times larger.
| Measure | HYG | TLT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.3% | −7.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 42.6%, high on Aug 4, 2020 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index | ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $17.5bn | $47.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 20, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,018 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: HYG against IUSB, Jun 20, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026; TLT against BBLB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026.
HYG returned more: +148.8% to +70.1%. HYG swung less: 11.1% to 14.2%. HYG fell less at its worst: −33.0% to −47.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | HYG | TLT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +148.8% | +70.1% | HYG | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.8% | +2.7% | HYG | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −26.2% | −7.7% | TLT | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 11.1% | 14.2% | HYG | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 8.1% | 10.0% | HYG | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −33.0% | −47.8% | HYG | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 62.1% | 102.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 48.4% | 101.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.01 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.31 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.34 | 0.15 | HYG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.46 | 0.22 | HYG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.019 | −0.072 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.14 | 0.06 | HYG | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IUSB | BBLB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.9% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.87 | −0.01 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.4% to +6.1% | −0.8% to +0.8% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.25 | −0.10 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 7.6% | 0.7% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
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, HYG and TLT hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Aug 31, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
HYG and TLT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
HYG and TLT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. HYG follows Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Index and TLT follows ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 HYG returned +1.3% and TLT −7.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 9.2 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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HYG
HYG tracks an index of US high yield bonds. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.3% with distributions reinvested, against −1.2% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.49% a year.
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
- Which returned more over the last year, HYG or TLT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HYG returned +1.3% and TLT −7.9%.
- Which is cheaper, HYG or TLT?
- TLT is cheaper, by 0.34 percentage points a year. That is about $34 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.
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ETFIQ, HYG against TLT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-tlt
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). HYG against TLT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-tlt
[HYG against TLT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hyg-vs-tlt)
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