Which returned more over the last year, TLT or ZHDG?

In the year to Sep 19, 2026, with distributions reinvested, TLT returned −4.7% and ZHDG returned +8.2%, so ZHDG returned more.

Which is cheaper, TLT or ZHDG?

TLT charges 0.15% a year and ZHDG charges 0.95%, so TLT is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Are TLT and ZHDG the same kind of fund?

No. TLT is an index ETF and ZHDG is an alternatives ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Data as of Sep 19, 2026.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

TLT vs ZHDG: how they differ

Over the year ZHDG returned more, +8.2% to TLT's −4.7%, and TLT charges 0.15% to ZHDG's 0.95%.

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF and ZEGA Buy and Hedge ETF.

TLT and ZHDG on the fields both publish, as of Sep 19, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	TLT iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	ZHDG ZEGA Buy and Hedge ETF
Where it sits	Core fund	Alternatives ETF
Issuer	iShares	Zega
What it is	Tracks an index of 20+ year Treasuries	Hedged equity
Total return, 1 year	−4.7%	+8.2%
S&P 500 over the same days	+16.6%	+16.6%
Gap to the S&P 500	−21.3 pts	−8.4 pts
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.95%
Holdings	49	not filed
Net assets	$46.7bn	$35m

TLT in plain words

TLT tracks an index of 20+ year Treasuries. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026 it returned −4.7% with distributions reinvested, against +16.6% for the S&P 500 and +21.8% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. It sat 42.6% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Sep 18, 2026.

ZHDG in plain words

ZHDG is a hedged equity fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.96 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.79, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.79% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 22 of those 52 weeks, by 1.24% on average. In the same weeks ZHDG fell 1.12% on average, a down-week capture of 90.0%. Over the same 52 weeks ZHDG returned +7.6% and a Treasury bill fund +3.6%, so it finished 3.9 percentage points ahead of cash.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, TLT or ZHDG?: In the year to Sep 19, 2026, with distributions reinvested, TLT returned −4.7% and ZHDG returned +8.2%, so ZHDG returned more.
Which is cheaper, TLT or ZHDG?: TLT charges 0.15% a year and ZHDG charges 0.95%, so TLT is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are TLT and ZHDG the same kind of fund?: No. TLT is an index ETF and ZHDG is an alternatives ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

TLT against ZHDG, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 19, 2026. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, TLT against ZHDG, data as of Sep 19, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/tlt-vs-zhdg Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources