Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
JNK vs TLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
JNK's duration was 3.4 years on Jun 30, 2026 and TLT's 15.1 on Aug 31, 2026; TLT charges 0.15% to JNK's 0.40%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $5.9bn for State Street SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF and $47.4bn for iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
TLT costs 0.25 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 9.6 points; TLT is 8.0 times larger.
| Measure | JNK | TLT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.7% | −7.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 42.6%, high on Aug 4, 2020 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid Index | ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.40% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $5.9bn | $47.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 14, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 984 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: JNK against AGG, Dec 14, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026; TLT against BBLB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026.
JNK returned more: +141.3% to +60.3%. JNK swung less: 12.7% to 14.3%. JNK fell less at its worst: −38.4% to −47.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | JNK | TLT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +141.3% | +60.3% | JNK | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.8% | +2.5% | JNK | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −35.6% | −10.2% | TLT | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 12.7% | 14.3% | JNK | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 9.4% | 10.1% | JNK (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −38.4% | −47.8% | JNK | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 54.4% | 102.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 35.8% | 101.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.16 | 1.01 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.24 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.32 | 0.14 | JNK | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.43 | 0.20 | JNK | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.035 | −0.072 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.12 | 0.05 | JNK | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGG | BBLB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +2.4% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.94 | −0.01 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.6% to +7.4% | −0.8% to +0.8% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.24 | −0.10 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 11.1% | 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, 984 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, JNK and TLT hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
JNK and TLT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
JNK and TLT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. JNK follows Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid 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 Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 JNK returned +1.7% and TLT −7.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 9.6 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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JNK
JNK tracks the Bloomberg High Yield Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.7% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.40% 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, JNK or TLT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, JNK returned +1.7% and TLT −7.9%.
- Which is cheaper, JNK or TLT?
- TLT is cheaper, by 0.25 percentage points a year. That is about $25 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, JNK against TLT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/jnk-vs-tlt
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). JNK against TLT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/jnk-vs-tlt
[JNK against TLT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/jnk-vs-tlt)
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