Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SMTH vs SYSB: Differences, Returns & Fees
SMTH's duration was 6.2 years on May 31, 2026 and SYSB's 5.9 on Jul 31, 2026; SYSB charges 0.25% to SMTH's 0.59%.
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Net assets: $2.7bn on May 31, 2026 for ALPS Smith Core Plus Bond ETF, and $1.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Systematic Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
SYSB costs 0.34 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.2 points.
| Measure | SMTH | SYSB |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −1.7% | −1.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.3%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | BlackRock Universal Systematic Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.59% | 0.25% |
| Net assets, SMTH as of May 31, 2026 and SYSB as of Oct 27, 2026 | $2.7bn | $1.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 1% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 15, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 149 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SMTH against AGG, Dec 15, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; SYSB against IUSB, Mar 6, 2015 to Oct 23, 2026.
SYSB returned more: +14.1% to +9.1%. SYSB swung less: 3.6% to 4.6%. SMTH fell slightly less at its worst: −4.6% to −5.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SMTH | SYSB | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +9.1% | +14.1% | SYSB | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +3.1% | +4.7% | SYSB | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −4.1% | −0.3% | SYSB | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 4.6% | 3.6% | SYSB | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 3.4% | 2.7% | SYSB | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −4.6% | −5.0% | SMTH (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 96.9% | 72.5% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 94.8% | 71.4% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.93 | 0.85 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.97 | 0.75 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.28 | 0.07 | SYSB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.37 | 0.10 | SYSB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.014 | 0.001 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.67 | 0.94 | SYSB | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGG | IUSB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.2% a year | +0.2% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.37 | 0.29 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.8% to +1.2% | −1.2% to +1.7% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.32 | 0.09 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.9% | 2.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 149 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SMTH and SYSB hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.
half
1% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SMTH and SYSB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SMTH and SYSB are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. SMTH follows No index, actively managed and SYSB follows BlackRock Universal Systematic Bond Index.
- Holdings in common. 1% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026).
- Cost. SMTH charges 0.59% of assets a year and SYSB 0.25%, a gap of 0.34 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SMTH
SMTH is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.7% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.59% a year.
SYSB
SYSB tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.9% with distributions reinvested, against −1.2% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.25% a year. It sat 3.3% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SMTH or SYSB?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SMTH returned −1.7% and SYSB −1.9%.
- Which is cheaper, SMTH or SYSB?
- SYSB is cheaper, by 0.34 percentage points a year. That is about $34 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, SMTH against SYSB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/smth-vs-sysb
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SMTH against SYSB. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/smth-vs-sysb
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