Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SHY vs TLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
On Aug 31, 2026 SHY's duration was 1.8 years and TLT's 15.1; both charge 0.15%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $27.4bn for iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF and $47.4bn for iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
Both cost 0.15% a year; their one-year returns differ by 9.5 points; TLT is 1.7 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | SHY | TLT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.6% | −7.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 42.6%, high on Aug 4, 2020 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index | ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $27.4bn | $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: SHY against BBSB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; TLT against BBLB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026.
TLT returned more: +123.8% to +58.9%. SHY swung less: 1.4% to 13.4%. SHY fell less at its worst: −5.6% to −47.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SHY | TLT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +58.9% | +123.8% | TLT | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +1.9% | +3.4% | TLT | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −0.1% | −3.0% | SHY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.4% | 13.4% | SHY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 0.9% | 9.5% | SHY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −5.6% | −47.8% | SHY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 97.9% | 102.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.8% | 101.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.98 | 1.01 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.98 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.11 | 0.18 | TLT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.16 | 0.26 | TLT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.012 | −0.072 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.35 | 0.07 | SHY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | BBSB | BBLB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.96 | −0.01 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.1% | −0.8% to +0.8% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.43 | −0.10 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.2% | 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, SHY 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
SHY and TLT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SHY and TLT 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 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 SHY returned +1.6% and TLT −7.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 9.5 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.
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. It sat 42.6% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
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, SHY against TLT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-tlt
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SHY against TLT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-tlt
[SHY against TLT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-tlt)
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