Both the iShares 20 Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:TLT) and State Street SPDR Portfolio Long Term Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEMKT:SPLB) target the long end of the U.S. bond market, but their approaches and risk profiles differ. TLT tracks government debt with maturities over 20 years, while SPLB provides broad exposure to investment-grade corporate bonds with maturities over 10 years.
Snapshot (cost & size)
| Metric | TLT | SPLB |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | IShares | SPDR |
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.04% |
| 1-yr return (as of Feb. 7, 2026) | -2.61% | 0.22% |
| Dividend yield | 4.43% | 5.25% |
| Beta | 0.56 | 0.67 |
| AUM | $44.81 billion | $1.22 billion |
Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year weekly returns. The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months.
SPLB stands out for its lower expense ratio and higher yield percentage, while actually having a positive return over the last 12 months.
Performance & risk comparison
| Metric | TLT | SPLB |
|---|---|---|
| Max drawdown (5 y) | -43.71% | -34.45% |
| Growth of $1,000 over 5 years | $585 | $710 |
What's inside
SPLB invests in a broad basket of 2,961 long-term, investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds, offering diversification across issuers and sectors. Some of the largest holdings include bonds that are issued by top companies including Meta (META 2.38%), CVS Health (CVS +0.84%), and Verizon (VZ +0.03%).
TLT, by contrast, holds just 47 U.S. Treasury bonds, all with maturities beyond 20 years. This heavy tilt toward government debt minimizes the risk of default by the bond issuer, as 100% of holdings are AA-rated, the second-safest type of bond.
For more guidance on ETF investing, check out the full guide at this link.
What this means for investors
While SPLB does have a higher dividend yield percentage than TLT, the BlackRock ETF actually has the higher dividend payout because its price is nearly four times higher than SPLB’s (as of Feb. 8, 2026). But in general, when it comes to bonds with long-term maturities, they are often going to have higher dividend yields compared to short-term bonds because they are more sensitive to interest rate fluctuations than short-term bonds.
Long-term bonds are often more sensitive to interest rate fluctuations because, once issued at a given rate, they are fixed. So investors are stuck with that rate for 10-20+ years, while interest rates may rise, leaving newer bonds with higher rates.
With short-term bonds, even though their rates are also often fixed, they expire quicker, sometimes within months, allowing investors to be more flexible with fluctuating rates. All of this contributes to long-term bond ETFs not providing as high returns as funds that hold short-term bonds. But for high dividends over long periods, either ETF is a suitable choice for investors.
