Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
LQD vs RSP: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, LQD returned −3.4% to RSP's +16.0%; 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 $99.8bn for Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF.
Pair scorecard
LQD costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 19.4 points; RSP is 3.3 times larger.
| Measure | LQD | RSP |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −3.4% | +16.0% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.3%, high on Sep 22, 2021 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index | S&P 500 Equal Weight Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.14% | 0.20% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $30.6bn | $99.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 2.7% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 9, 2003 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,224 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: LQD against IUSB, Jun 20, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026; RSP against IVV, May 9, 2003 to Oct 23, 2026.
RSP returned more: +1,085.5% to +140.4%. LQD swung less: 8.4% to 18.8%. LQD fell less at its worst: −24.7% to −59.6%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | LQD | RSP | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +140.4% | +1,085.5% | RSP | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +3.8% | +11.1% | RSP | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −8.2% | +726.1% | RSP | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 8.4% | 18.8% | LQD | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 6.0% | 13.2% | LQD | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −24.7% | −59.6% | LQD | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 157.4% | 104.7% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 143.3% | 102.9% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.70 | 1.07 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.84 | 0.92 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.27 | 0.56 | RSP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.38 | 0.80 | RSP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.005 | 0.098 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.15 | 0.19 | RSP | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IUSB | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.7% a year | −0.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.64 | −0.57 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +2.8% | −2.8% to +1.5% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.14 | 0.02 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 5.2% | 5.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,224 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, LQD and RSP 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 RSP on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
LQD and RSP do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. LQD follows Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index and RSP follows S&P 500 Equal Weight 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 RSP +16.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 19.4 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.
RSP
RSP tracks the S&P 500 equal weight. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.0% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.20% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 508 positions, with the top ten at 2.7%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, LQD or RSP?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, LQD returned −3.4% and RSP +16.0%.
- Which is cheaper, LQD or RSP?
- LQD 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.
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, LQD against RSP, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/lqd-vs-rsp
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). LQD against RSP. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/lqd-vs-rsp
[LQD against RSP (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/lqd-vs-rsp)
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