Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SHY vs SPSB: Differences, Returns & Fees
SHY's duration was 1.8 years on Aug 31, 2026 and SPSB's 1.8 on Jun 30, 2026; SPSB charges 0.04% to SHY's 0.15%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $27.4bn for iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF and $11.3bn for State Street SPDR Portfolio Short Term Corporate Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPSB costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.6 points; SHY is 2.4 times larger.
| Measure | SHY | SPSB |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.6% | +2.2% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index | Bloomberg U.S. 1-3 Year Corporate Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.04% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $27.4bn | $11.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 24, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026 · 878 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SHY against BBSB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; SPSB against AGG, Dec 24, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPSB returned more: +47.3% to +25.6%. SHY swung less: 1.3% to 3.0%. SHY fell less at its worst: −5.6% to −9.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SHY | SPSB | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +25.6% | +47.3% | SPSB | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +1.4% | +2.3% | SPSB | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −2.1% | −1.4% | SPSB | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.3% | 3.0% | SHY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 0.8% | 2.1% | SHY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −5.6% | −9.9% | SHY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 97.9% | 30.3% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.8% | 20.4% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.98 | 0.39 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.98 | 0.36 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.14 | 0.27 | SPSB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.21 | 0.39 | SPSB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.012 | 0.020 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.24 | 0.23 | SHY (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | BBSB | AGG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | +0.4% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.96 | 0.78 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.1% | −0.7% to +1.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.43 | −0.03 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.2% | 3.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 878 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SHY and SPSB 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
SHY and SPSB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SHY and SPSB do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. SHY follows ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index and SPSB follows Bloomberg U.S. 1-3 Year Corporate Bond Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026).
- Number of holdings. SHY holds 90 positions and SPSB holds 1684.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SHY
SHY tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.6% with distributions reinvested, against +1.7% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year.
SPSB
SPSB tracks an index of Short Term Corporate Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.2% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SHY or SPSB?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SHY returned +1.6% and SPSB +2.2%.
- Which is cheaper, SHY or SPSB?
- SPSB is cheaper, by 0.11 percentage points a year. That is about $11 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, SHY against SPSB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-spsb
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