Which returned more over the last year, IEMG or TLT?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IEMG returned +15.3% and TLT −7.9%.

Which is cheaper, IEMG or TLT?

IEMG is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IEMG vs TLT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IEMG returned +15.3% to TLT's −7.9%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $150.4bn for iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF and $47.4bn for iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF.

IEMG on its own →TLT on its own →

At a glance

+15.3%

IEMG total return, 1 year

−7.9%

TLT total return, 1 year

0.09%

IEMG expense ratio

0.15%

TLT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IEMG costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 23.2 points; IEMG is 3.2 times larger.

IEMG vs TLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IEMG	TLT
Return
Measure	IEMG	TLT
Total return, 1 year	+15.3%	−7.9%
Drawdown
Measure	IEMG	TLT
Below its high	10.1%, high on Jun 22, 2026	42.6%, high on Aug 4, 2020
Benchmark
Measure	IEMG	TLT
What it tracks	MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (IMI)	ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index
Cost and size
Measure	IEMG	TLT
Expense ratio	0.09%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$150.4bn	$47.4bn
Holdings
Measure	IEMG	TLT
Holdings in common	0%
In the S&P 500, by weight	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	32.7%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Nov 2, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 729 weekly returns

IEMG TLT

Return

Total return edge IEMG +120.7% −1.4%

Annualized edge IEMG +5.8% −0.1%

Price return edge IEMG +56.0% −33.5%

Risk

Volatility edge TLT 18.2% 13.6%

Max drawdown edge IEMG −37.1% −47.8%

Downside capture 97.1% 101.2%

Beta 0.96 1.01

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge IEMG 0.30 −0.07

Sortino edge IEMG 0.42 −0.10

Treynor 0.057 −0.072

Calmar edge IEMG 0.16 0.00

Against the benchmark

Alpha +0.7% a year 0.0% a year

Alpha t-stat 2.17 −0.01

Information ratio 0.38 −0.10

Tracking error 1.4% 0.7%

Each against its own benchmark: IEMG against EEM, Nov 2, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026; TLT against BBLB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

IEMG returned more: +120.7% to −1.4%. TLT swung less: 13.6% to 18.2%. IEMG fell less at its worst: −37.1% to −47.8%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: IEMG vs TLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IEMG	TLT	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+120.7%	−1.4%	IEMG	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+5.8%	−0.1%	IEMG	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+56.0%	−33.5%	IEMG	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	18.2%	13.6%	TLT	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	13.0%	10.0%	TLT	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−37.1%	−47.8%	IEMG	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	94.6%	102.4%		Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	97.1%	101.2%		Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	0.96	1.01	Not an edge	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	1.00	1.00	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.30	−0.07	IEMG	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.42	−0.10	IEMG	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.057	−0.072		Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.16	0.00	IEMG	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
Benchmark	EEM	BBLB		The ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha	+0.7% a year	0.0% a year	TLT not significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	2.17	−0.01	Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	+0.1% to +1.4%	−0.8% to +0.8%	TLT includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	0.38	−0.10		Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	1.4%	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, 729 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, IEMG and TLT hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IEMG TLT

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IEMG

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING 14.03%

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS LTD 6.05%

SK HYNIX 4.31%

TENCENT HOLDINGS 2.32%

ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING 1.60%

MEDIATEK 1.36%

CHINA CONSTRUCTION BANK CORP H 0.83%

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS NON VOTING PRE 0.80%

Only in TLT

TREASURY BOND 4.32%

TREASURY BOND 4.12%

TREASURY BOND (OLD) 4.07%

TREASURY BOND 4.02%

TREASURY BOND 3.93%

TREASURY BOND 3.92%

TREASURY BOND 3.89%

TREASURY BOND 3.88%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IEMG iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF TLT iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI Emerging Markets Tracks an index of 20+ year Treasuries

Total return, 1 year +15.3% −7.9%

Its benchmark over the same days +16.3% (EEM) −7.8% (BBLB)

Gap to its benchmark −1.0 pts vs EEM −0.1 pts vs BBLB

Expense ratio 0.09% 0.15%

Holdings 2857 47

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $150.4bn $47.4bn

IEMG and TLT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-F9E3271FCF

IEMG and TLT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. IEMG follows MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (IMI) 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 Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IEMG returned +15.3% and TLT −7.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 23.2 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

IEMG

IEMG tracks the MSCI Emerging Markets. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +15.3% with distributions reinvested, against +16.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,857 positions, with the top ten at 32.7%. It sat 10.1% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

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, IEMG or TLT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IEMG returned +15.3% and TLT −7.9%.
Which is cheaper, IEMG or TLT?: IEMG is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

IEMG vs VGLT EDV vs IEMG IEMG vs IUSB IEMG vs VGIT TLT vs VWO AVEM vs TLT EEM vs TLT EMXC vs TLT

Where to next

IEMG on its own →TLT on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →IEMG dividend history →IEMG holdings →TLT dividend history →TLT holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

IEMG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IEMG prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IEMG ↗

TLT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

TLT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for TLT ↗

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, IEMG against TLT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iemg-vs-tlt

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.