Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SPTL vs TLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
SPTL's duration was 14.1 years on Jun 30, 2026 and TLT's 15.1 on Aug 31, 2026; SPTL charges 0.03% to TLT's 0.15%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $11.6bn for State Street SPDR Portfolio Long Term Treasury ETF and $47.4bn for iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPTL costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.2 points; TLT is 4.1 times larger.
| Measure | SPTL | TLT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −6.7% | −7.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 38.9%, high on Aug 4, 2020 | 42.6%, high on Aug 4, 2020 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg Long U.S. Treasury Index | ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $11.6bn | $47.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 52% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jun 8, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,011 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SPTL against AGG, Jun 8, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026; TLT against BBLB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPTL returned slightly more: +80.5% to +77.5%. SPTL swung slightly less: 12.9% to 14.3%. SPTL fell slightly less at its worst: −45.7% to −47.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SPTL | TLT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +80.5% | +77.5% | SPTL (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +3.1% | +3.0% | SPTL (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −0.6% | −2.9% | SPTL | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 12.9% | 14.3% | SPTL (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 9.2% | 10.0% | SPTL (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −45.7% | −47.8% | SPTL (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 285.7% | 102.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 220.6% | 101.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.69 | 1.01 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.49 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.18 | 0.17 | SPTL (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.26 | 0.24 | SPTL (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.014 | −0.072 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.07 | 0.06 | SPTL (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGG | BBLB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.3% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.12 | −0.01 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −4.4% to +3.8% | −0.8% to +0.8% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.08 | −0.10 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 9.9% | 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, 1,011 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SPTL and TLT hold 52% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
52% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SPTL and TLT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SPTL and TLT are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. SPTL follows Bloomberg Long U.S. Treasury Index and TLT follows ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index.
- Cost. SPTL charges 0.03% of assets a year and TLT 0.15%, a gap of 0.12 points.
- Size. SPTL has $11.6bn in net assets and TLT $47.4bn (net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026); TLT is 4.1 times larger.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SPTL
SPTL tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −6.7% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 38.9% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 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, SPTL or TLT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPTL returned −6.7% and TLT −7.9%.
- Which is cheaper, SPTL or TLT?
- SPTL is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 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, SPTL against TLT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/sptl-vs-tlt
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SPTL against TLT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/sptl-vs-tlt
[SPTL against TLT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/sptl-vs-tlt)
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