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The iShares 10+ Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEMKT:IGLB) and State Street SPDR Portfolio Long Term Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEMKT:SPLB) provide nearly identical, low-cost exposure to long-dated investment-grade corporate debt.
Investors seeking long-term income and portfolio diversification often turn to corporate bond ETFs. Both the iShares and SPDR funds target high-quality corporate issues with maturities exceeding 10 years. While their portfolios overlap significantly, subtle differences in liquidity, scale, and diversification may influence an investor's preference.
Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from monthly returns over the available fund history (up to five years). The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Dividend yield is the trailing-12-month distribution yield as of the close of trading on Nov. 10, 2026.
Both funds are highly cost-efficient, charging just 0.04% annually. The State Street SPDR Portfolio Long Term Corporate Bond ETF offers a slightly higher distribution yield of 5.6%, compared to 5.5% for the iShares fund, representing a negligible yield gap.
The iShares 10+ Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF focuses on U.S. dollar-denominated, investment-grade corporate bonds with at least 10 years remaining until maturity. It is a large portfolio containing 3,815 holdings, and it is highly diversified, as its largest positions include no single issue exceeding 0.27% of assets. The fund was launched in 2009. The iShares 10+ Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF has paid $2.61 per share over the trailing 12 months, which, on its recent ~$47.44 share price, works out to a 5.5% yield.
The State Street SPDR Portfolio Long Term Corporate Bond ETF likewise focuses on long-dated corporate issues by tracking the Bloomberg U.S. Long Term Corporate Bond Index. It is also highly diversified with 2,952 holdings, and its top holdings include no single position representing more than 0.47% of the portfolio assets. This fund was launched in 2009. The State Street SPDR Portfolio Long Term Corporate Bond ETF has paid $1.20 per share over the trailing 12 months, which on its recent ~$21.19 share price works out to a 5.6% yield.
For more guidance on ETF investing, check out the full guide at this link.
Bonds are historically a part of a diversified portfolio. Each of these funds offers a combination of bond safety and income production. But they have differences investors should consider before buying.
IGLB, the iShares bond ETF, has an 11.36-year average duration in its portfolio, primarily from bonds from U.S. issuers, accounting for 82% of the portfolio, followed by the U.K. at 3.6%, and Canada at 2.2%.
Just 2.2% of the portfolio is dedicated to the top 10 holdings, which greatly reduces the concentration risk of any one bond to the portfolio. However, that figure doesn't account for the fact that positions can include multiple bonds from the same corporate issuer.
Over the past three years, IGLB has returned an annualized 6.8%, but a negative 3.2% over the five-year look-back. Over the prior decade, the ETF has returned 1.7%.
Turning to SPLB, the State Street corporate bond RTF, it has an 11.88-year average duration in its portfolio, with some 90% from U.S. issuers. Bonds from issuers based in the U.K. (3.1%) and Canada (2.2%) follow as the next most heavily weighted countries represented.
About 2.6% of the portfolio is dedicated to the top 10 holdings of SPLB, which mitigates the risk of any one bond to the portfolio, although multiple bonds from the same issuer may be held in the ETF.
Over the past 3, 5, and 10 years, SPLB has returned an annualized 6.7%, a negative 3.5%, and 1.6%, respectively.
Given these ETFs are so similar in strategy, average duration, expenses, drawdown, and yield, the decision comes down to performance. Here, IGLB, the iShares corporate bond fund, edges its rival in every time frame, making it the better buy.
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IGLB vs SPLB: Which Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF Wins for Investors? was originally published by The Motley Fool
