Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SHY vs TIP: Differences, Returns & Fees
SHY's duration was 1.8 years on Aug 31, 2026 and TIP's 6.3 on Jul 31, 2026; SHY charges 0.15% to TIP's 0.18%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $27.4bn for iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF and $14.6bn for iShares TIPS Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
SHY costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.6 points; SHY is 1.9 times larger.
| Measure | SHY | TIP |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.6% | −1.0% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index | ICE U.S. Treasury Inflation Linked Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.18% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $27.4bn | $14.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 12, 2003 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,193 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SHY against BBSB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; TIP against VTP, Jul 18, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026.
TIP returned more: +113.6% to +53.9%. SHY swung less: 1.4% to 5.9%. SHY fell less at its worst: −5.6% to −14.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SHY | TIP | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +53.9% | +113.6% | TIP | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +1.9% | +3.4% | TIP | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −1.1% | +4.1% | TIP | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.4% | 5.9% | SHY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 0.9% | 4.3% | SHY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −5.6% | −14.2% | SHY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 97.9% | 99.7% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.8% | 101.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.98 | 0.99 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.98 | 0.98 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.06 | 0.28 | TIP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.09 | 0.39 | TIP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.012 | −0.023 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.34 | 0.24 | SHY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | BBSB | VTP | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | −0.2% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.96 | −0.56 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.1% | −1.0% to +0.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.43 | −0.45 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.2% | 0.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,193 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SHY and TIP hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SHY and TIP on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SHY and TIP 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 TIP follows ICE U.S. Treasury Inflation Linked Bond Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SHY returned +1.6% and TIP −1.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.6 points.
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.
TIP
TIP tracks an index of TIPS Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.0% with distributions reinvested, against −0.8% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury Inflation Linked Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SHY or TIP?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SHY returned +1.6% and TIP −1.0%.
- Which is cheaper, SHY or TIP?
- SHY is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, SHY against TIP, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-tip
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SHY against TIP. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-tip
[SHY against TIP (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-tip)
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