Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
LQD vs MDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, LQD returned −3.4% to MDY's +12.8%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $30.6bn for iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF and $25.9bn for SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
LQD costs 0.09 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 16.2 points; LQD is 1.2 times larger.
| Measure | LQD | MDY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −3.4% | +12.8% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.3%, high on Sep 22, 2021 | 6.5%, high on Aug 14, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index | S&P MidCap 400 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.14% | 0.23% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $30.6bn | $25.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 7.5% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Aug 2, 2002 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,264 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: LQD against IUSB, Jun 20, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026; MDY against IJH, Jun 2, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026.
MDY returned more: +1,048.6% to +174.2%. LQD swung less: 8.4% to 20.4%. LQD fell less at its worst: −24.7% to −54.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | LQD | MDY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +174.2% | +1,048.6% | MDY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.2% | +10.6% | MDY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +0.6% | +756.8% | MDY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 8.4% | 20.4% | LQD | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 6.0% | 14.2% | LQD | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −24.7% | −54.9% | LQD | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 157.4% | 99.9% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 143.3% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.70 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.84 | 0.99 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.33 | 0.51 | MDY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.46 | 0.73 | MDY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.005 | 0.089 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.17 | 0.19 | MDY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IUSB | IJH | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.7% a year | −0.2% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.64 | −0.63 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +2.8% | −0.8% to +0.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.14 | −0.11 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 5.2% | 1.7% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,264 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, LQD and MDY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
LQD and MDY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
LQD and MDY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. LQD follows Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index and MDY follows S&P MidCap 400 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 LQD returned −3.4% and MDY +12.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 16.2 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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LQD
LQD tracks an index of US investment grade bonds. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.4% with distributions reinvested, against −1.2% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.14% a year. It sat 6.3% below its high of Sep 22, 2021 on Oct 28, 2026.
MDY
MDY tracks the S&P MidCap 400. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.8% with distributions reinvested, against +13.2% for its benchmark, the S&P MidCap 400 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.23% 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 401 positions, with the top ten at 7.5%. It sat 6.5% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, LQD or MDY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, LQD returned −3.4% and MDY +12.8%.
- Which is cheaper, LQD or MDY?
- LQD is cheaper, by 0.09 percentage points a year. That is about $9 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, LQD against MDY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/lqd-vs-mdy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). LQD against MDY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/lqd-vs-mdy
[LQD against MDY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/lqd-vs-mdy)
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