Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
MDY vs TLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MDY returned +12.8% to TLT's −7.9%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $25.9bn for SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust and $47.4bn for iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
TLT costs 0.08 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 20.7 points; TLT is 1.8 times larger.
| Measure | MDY | TLT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.8% | −7.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.5%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | 42.6%, high on Aug 4, 2020 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P MidCap 400 Index | ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.23% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $25.9bn | $47.4bn |
| 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: MDY against IJH, Jun 2, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026; TLT against BBLB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026.
MDY returned more: +1,048.6% to +123.8%. TLT swung less: 13.4% to 20.4%. TLT fell less at its worst: −47.8% to −54.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | MDY | TLT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +1,048.6% | +123.8% | MDY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +10.6% | +3.4% | MDY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +756.8% | −3.0% | MDY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 20.4% | 13.4% | TLT | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.2% | 9.5% | TLT | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −54.9% | −47.8% | TLT | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.9% | 102.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.2% | 101.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.01 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.99 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.51 | 0.18 | MDY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.73 | 0.26 | MDY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.089 | −0.072 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.19 | 0.07 | MDY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IJH | BBLB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.2% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.63 | −0.01 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.8% to +0.4% | −0.8% to +0.8% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.11 | −0.10 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.7% | 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, MDY and TLT 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
MDY and TLT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
MDY and TLT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. MDY follows S&P MidCap 400 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 Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 MDY returned +12.8% and TLT −7.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 20.7 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
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, MDY or TLT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MDY returned +12.8% and TLT −7.9%.
- Which is cheaper, MDY or TLT?
- TLT is cheaper, by 0.08 percentage points a year. That is about $8 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, MDY against TLT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mdy-vs-tlt
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). MDY against TLT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mdy-vs-tlt
[MDY against TLT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mdy-vs-tlt)
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