Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
TLT vs TLTW: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, TLT returned −7.9% to TLTW's −3.0%, and TLT charges 0.15% to TLTW's 0.35%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $47.4bn for iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF and $1.6bn for iShares TLT Premium Income+ ETF.
Pair scorecard
TLT costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.9 points; TLT is far larger, $47.4bn against $1.6bn.
| Measure | TLT | TLTW |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −7.9% | −3.0% |
| Price change, 1 year | fell 12.0% | fell 12.8% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 16.5% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 73% of the Oct 7, 2026 payment | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 42.6%, high on Aug 4, 2020 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index | Benchmark: 20+ Year Treasury, measured through TLT |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.35% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $47.4bn | $1.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Sep 2, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026 · 216 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: TLT against BBLB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; TLTW against TLT, Sep 2, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026.
TLTW returned more: −1.6% to −13.2%. TLTW swung less: 11.1% to 14.3%. TLTW fell less at its worst: −16.4% to −22.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | TLT | TLTW | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | −13.2% | −1.6% | TLTW | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | −3.4% | −0.4% | TLTW | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −26.2% | −45.5% | TLT | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 14.3% | 11.1% | TLTW | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.5% | 8.6% | TLTW | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −22.0% | −16.4% | TLTW | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 102.4% | 69.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 101.2% | 79.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.01 | 0.73 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.89 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.49 | −0.39 | TLTW | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.66 | −0.50 | TLTW | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.072 | −0.059 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | −0.15 | −0.02 | TLTW | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | BBLB | TLT | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | +0.7% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.01 | 0.41 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.8% to +0.8% | −2.9% to +4.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.10 | 0.49 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.7% | 5.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 216 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, TLT and TLTW hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
TLT and TLTW on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
TLT and TLTW do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. TLT follows ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index and TLTW is measured against 20+ Year Treasury through TLT.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 TLT returned −7.9% and TLTW −3.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.9 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
TLTW
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, TLTW paid 9.9% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 12.8%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned −3.0%. 20+ Year Treasury (TLT) returned −7.9% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 4.9 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 16.5%, paid monthly. iShares estimates that 73% of the distribution paid Oct 7, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
Questions people ask
- Are TLT and TLTW in the same category?
- TLT is a bond ETF and TLTW is an option-income ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, TLT or TLTW?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, TLT returned −7.9% and TLTW −3.0%.
- Which is cheaper, TLT or TLTW?
- TLT is cheaper, by 0.20 percentage points a year. That is about $20 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, TLT against TLTW, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/tlt-vs-tltw
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). TLT against TLTW. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/tlt-vs-tltw
[TLT against TLTW (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/tlt-vs-tltw)
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