Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
LQD vs TLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
On Aug 31, 2026 LQD's duration was 7.7 years and TLT's 15.1; LQD charges 0.14% to TLT's 0.15%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $30.6bn for iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF and $47.4bn for iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
LQD costs 0.01 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.5 points; TLT is 1.5 times larger.
| Measure | LQD | TLT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −3.4% | −7.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.3%, high on Sep 22, 2021 | 42.6%, high on Aug 4, 2020 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index | ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.14% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $30.6bn | $47.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Aug 31, 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; TLT against BBLB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026.
LQD returned more: +174.2% to +123.8%. LQD swung less: 8.4% to 13.4%. LQD fell less at its worst: −24.7% to −47.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | LQD | TLT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +174.2% | +123.8% | LQD | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.2% | +3.4% | LQD | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +0.6% | −3.0% | LQD | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 8.4% | 13.4% | LQD | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 6.0% | 9.5% | LQD | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −24.7% | −47.8% | LQD | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 157.4% | 102.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 143.3% | 101.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.70 | 1.01 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.84 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.33 | 0.18 | LQD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.46 | 0.26 | LQD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.005 | −0.072 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.17 | 0.07 | LQD | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IUSB | BBLB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.7% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.64 | −0.01 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +2.8% | −0.8% to +0.8% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.14 | −0.10 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 5.2% | 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, 1,264 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, LQD 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
LQD and TLT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
LQD and TLT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. LQD follows Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade 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 LQD returned −3.4% and TLT −7.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.5 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.
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, LQD or TLT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, LQD returned −3.4% and TLT −7.9%.
- Which is cheaper, LQD or TLT?
- LQD is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 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 TLT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/lqd-vs-tlt
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). LQD against TLT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/lqd-vs-tlt
[LQD against TLT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/lqd-vs-tlt)
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