In 2022, with dividends counted, TLT (the long-term Treasury bond ETF) lost 31.2%. IEF (the intermediate-term Treasury bond ETF) lost 15.2%. Both hold only US Treasuries. They differ in how many years remain before their bonds are repaid.
That difference decides how sharply each price reacts to interest rates. This guide compares the two using the issuer's own pages (opened on 27 October 2026) and price data to 26 October 2026.
What is the difference between IEF and TLT? IEF holds US Treasuries with 7 to 10 years left, while TLT holds those with over 20 years left. TLT's price moves about twice as far for the same change in yields.
Duration measures how far a bond's price falls when yields rise. TLT's is 14.92 years against 6.83 for IEF.
Since July 2002 TLT earned 3.46% a year against 3.27% for IEF. Its worst fall was 48.3%, against 23.9%.
TLT moved about twice as far as IEF in both directions: up in 2008, down in 2022.
What are IEF and TLT?
IEF and TLT are exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which trade on a stock exchange. Our explainer on what an ETF is has the detail. Each fund holds US Treasuries, which are bonds the US government issues to borrow money.
On 23 October 2026 IEF held 17 Treasuries. The largest, a 4.63% note due 15 February 2035, was 8.82% of the fund. TLT held 47 Treasury bonds, the longest due 15 August 2056. Its largest, a 4.75% bond due 15 May 2055, was 4.32% of the fund.
By remaining life, 96.66% of IEF sat in the 7 to 10 year band. For TLT, 99.89% had more than 20 years left.
What do IEF and TLT cost?
Both funds charge an expense ratio, the annual fee taken from the fund, of 0.15%. Both launched on 22 July 2002. On 26 October 2026 IEF held $43.37 billion in net assets, the total value of what it holds. TLT held $47.76 billion.
Tracking is the gap between a fund's return and its index's. To 30 September 2026 IEF trailed its index by 0.08 to 0.12 points a year over 1, 3, 5 and 10 years and since launch. TLT trailed by 0.09 to 0.11. All ten gaps sit below the fee.
How did IEF and TLT perform from 2002?
Our price files begin on 26 July 2002, so we start there and end on 26 October 2026. That is 6,102 trading days over 24.25 years. "With dividends counted" means the payouts are treated as reinvested.
Source: YX Insights price data
$10,000 in IEF became $21,816, an annual rate of 3.27%. $10,000 in TLT became $22,840, or 3.46% a year. TLT earned 0.19 points a year more.
Its price swung far more for that gain. Volatility is how widely a price swings from day to day, scaled to a year. TLT's was 14.25% and IEF's was 6.79%.
TLT beat IEF in 9 of the 23 full calendar years from 2003 to 2025. The two moved in the same direction in 21 of them. They split in 2015 and 2018, when IEF gained while TLT lost.
How big were the worst falls?
A fall here is measured from a previous high to the lowest point after it. We searched the whole window, 26 July 2002 to 26 October 2026, on daily closes. Our explainer on what a drawdown is covers it.
Source: YX Insights price data
Both funds had the same high, on 4 August 2020. They had the same low, on 19 October 2023. IEF fell 23.9% in between and TLT fell 48.3%.
Neither has regained that high. On 26 October 2026 IEF sat 12.9% below it and TLT sat 42.1% below it.
What is duration and why does TLT move more?
Duration measures how sensitive a bond's price is to interest rates. A duration of 7 years means a price fall of about 7% for each 1 percentage point rise in yields. A yield is the annual return a buyer earns at the current price. Our explainer on bond prices and yields covers the link.
The issuer reports an effective duration of 6.83 years for IEF and 14.92 years for TLT, as of 23 October 2026. TLT's is 2.18 times as long.
We tested that against the 10-year yield, the interest rate on Treasuries with 10 years left. Chart 3 plots each week's price change in each fund against that week's change in the yield. It covers 1,084 weeks of Friday closes, from 13 January 2006 to 16 October 2026.
Source: YX Insights price data; Federal Reserve Board H.15 (10-year Treasury yield)
The line fitted through IEF's dots falls 7.43% in a week for each 1 point weekly rise in the yield. TLT's falls 14.85%. The issuer's durations are 6.83 and 14.92 years.
How did IEF and TLT behave in past market shocks?
The 2008 and 2022 rows are calendar years. The oil row runs from 23 February 2022, the day before Russia invaded Ukraine, to Brent crude's closing high on 8 March, searched from 23 February to 30 June.
The other three rows end at the closing low of the S&P 500, an index of 500 large US companies.
We searched 1 February to 30 April 2020, 1 July to 31 August 2024 and 1 March to 30 April 2025. March 2020 starts at the S&P 500's high on 19 February. We chose the other two start dates, 31 July 2024 and 2 April 2025.
Episode | Closes used | 10-year yield change, points | IEF | TLT | S&P 500 (SPY) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | 31 Dec 2007 to 31 Dec 2008 | −1.79 | +17.9% | +33.9% | −36.8% |
March 2020 | 19 Feb to 23 Mar 2020 | −0.80 | +6.4% | +14.2% | −33.7% |
2022 rate rises | 31 Dec 2021 to 30 Dec 2022 | +2.36 | −15.2% | −31.2% | −18.2% |
2022 oil shock | 23 Feb to 8 Mar 2022 | −0.13 | +1.1% | +0.9% | −1.4% |
August 2024 | 31 Jul to 5 Aug 2024 | −0.31 | +2.1% | +4.6% | −6.1% |
April 2025 tariffs | 2 Apr to 8 Apr 2025 | +0.06 | −0.4% | −3.4% | −12.1% |
Total returns over the closes shown, dividends counted, before costs and tax. For the 2022 oil shock, Brent crude rose 34.1% over its window, from $99.29 to $133.18. Source: YX Insights price data; Federal Reserve Board H.15 (10-year yield); US Energy Information Administration (Brent)
In 2008 TLT gained 33.9% and IEF gained 17.9% while the S&P 500 lost 36.8%.
In March 2020 both funds gained over the window, but both fell inside it. From 9 to 18 March TLT lost 15.7% and IEF lost 4.7%.
In 2022 both funds fell with shares. The Federal Reserve raised its target range for the Federal Funds Rate, the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans, to 0.25% to 0.50% on 16 March 2022. By 14 December the range was 4.25% to 4.50%.
The 10-year yield rose from 1.52% to 3.88%. TLT lost 2.06 times as much as IEF, close to the 2.18 ratio of their durations. Our explainer on the 2022 rate hikes has the path.
Brent crude, the global oil price benchmark, rose 34.1% in the oil window, from $99.29 to $133.18. IEF gained 1.1% and TLT gained 0.9%, while the 10-year yield fell 0.13 points. In August 2024 IEF gained 2.1% and TLT gained 4.6% while the S&P 500 lost 6.1%.
The US government signed Executive Order 14257 on 2 April 2025, which set new tariffs on imports. By the 8 April close the S&P 500 had lost 12.1%, TLT 3.4% and IEF 0.4%.
The bond funds kept falling after the stock low. TLT lost 6.9% from 4 to 10 April. The week ending 11 April, with the yield up 0.47 points, was IEF's worst of the 1,084 weeks, down 3.2%.
We also tested the broad dollar index and Brent crude on the same 1,084 weeks. Neither showed a strong link to either fund's weekly price change. The 10-year yield did, with a correlation, on a scale from -1 (opposite directions) to +1 (in step), of -0.98 for IEF and -0.92 for TLT.
What does this comparison leave out?
The test covers two funds over one window, before costs, tax and inflation. Our guide to how ETFs perform in a crisis covers 27 funds. Our explainer on Treasury bill ETFs covers the shortest-dated Treasuries.
IEF and TLT are both covered in our Multi-model Signals.
In this window TLT earned 3.46% a year against 3.27% for IEF, with twice the swings. TLT moved about twice as far as IEF in both directions: up in 2008, down in 2022.
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Common questions about IEF vs TLT
What is the duration of IEF and TLT?
IEF's effective duration is 6.83 years and TLT's is 14.92 years, as of 23 October 2026. Duration estimates how much a bond fund's price falls for each 1 percentage point rise in yields. TLT holds Treasuries with over 20 years left, so its price moves about twice as far as IEF's.
Which fell more in 2022, IEF or TLT?
TLT fell more. It lost 31.2% in 2022, with dividends counted, against 15.2% for IEF. The 10-year yield, the interest rate on Treasuries with 10 years left, rose from 1.52% to 3.88% that year. TLT's loss was 2.06 times IEF's, close to the 2.18 ratio of their durations.
Is TLT riskier than IEF?
TLT swung more. Its volatility was 14.25% a year from July 2002 to October 2026, against 6.79% for IEF. TLT's worst fall from a high was 48.3% against 23.9%. Neither fund had regained its August 2020 high by 26 October 2026.
Do IEF and TLT rise when stocks fall?
Not every time. Both gained while the S&P 500, an index of 500 large US companies, fell in 2008, March 2020 and August 2024 in our windows. Both fell in 2022 and in the 2 to 8 April 2025 window. The outcome followed the 10-year yield, which rose in both losing episodes.
How much do IEF and TLT cost?
Both have an expense ratio of 0.15% a year, according to the issuer's pages on 27 October 2026. IEF held $43.37 billion in net assets and TLT held $47.76 billion on 26 October 2026. To 30 September 2026 each trailed its index by 0.08 to 0.12 points a year.
DISCLAIMER: This article is strictly educational. Any information or analysis in this note is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Nothing in this note is intended to be investment advice and nor should it be relied upon to make investment decisions. Any opinions, analyses, or probabilities expressed in this note are those of the author as of the note's date of publication and are subject to change without notice.
