IUSB — iShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF

IUSB Price Performance — Growth of $10,000

Value of a $10,000 investment in IUSB over time, compared with SPY. Both lines are rebased to $10,000 on the first shared date. Based on total returns — prices are adjusted for dividends and splits, so this assumes distributions were reinvested. Hover or tap the chart for exact values.

IUSB Drawdown

The "underwater" chart: IUSB's decline from its highest prior value at each point in time. It shows how deep past losses ran and how long the fund took to recover to break-even.

Overview

The iShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF (IUSB) is a broad US bond fund issued by iShares that tracks within a category containing seven other ETFs monitored by ETFValuer. With assets under management totaling $42.8 billion and a share price of $45.65, the fund demonstrates significant investor adoption relative to its peers. It holds an overall rank of #271 out of 458 tracked ETFs across all categories, earning an ETFValuer grade of C with a score of 58.8 out of 100. The fund charges an expense ratio of 0.06%, which is a relatively low cost for a bond ETF of this size. Investors receive a dividend yield of 4.21%, providing a steady income stream alongside capital appreciation potential. The combination of high assets and a mid-tier rank suggests the fund is a widely held option within the broad US bond space. Its pricing and scale position it as a substantial vehicle for exposure to the universal USD bond market.

Over the most recent trading day, the fund posted a gain of +0.20%, followed by a modest weekly increase of +0.09%. Short-term performance turned negative over the last month with a decline of -1.05%, and the three-month return also registered a loss of -0.44%. The six-month period saw a slight contraction of -0.26%, while year-to-date returns have recovered to a positive +0.17%. The one-year return stands at +3.60%, indicating a stronger performance over the annual horizon compared to the recent monthly trends. Extending the view to three years, the fund has accumulated a total return of +14.76%, showing a distinct divergence between recent short-term volatility and longer-term growth. This pattern suggests that while recent months have been mixed or negative, the fund has maintained positive momentum over the longer annual and multi-year periods.

The fund carries a volatility label of Very Low, which aligns with its beta of 0.96, indicating that its price movements generally track slightly less than the broader market. Despite the low volatility classification, the Sharpe ratio of -0.39 suggests that the risk-adjusted returns have been negative over the measured period. The maximum drawdown of -5.15% represents the largest peak-to-trough decline experienced by the fund, highlighting the extent of potential losses during downturns. This combination of a negative Sharpe ratio and a defined maximum drawdown implies that while the fund does not exhibit extreme price swings, the returns generated have not adequately compensated for the risks taken. The beta below 1.0 confirms that the fund tends to be less sensitive to market movements than the average asset, yet the negative risk-adjusted metric points to periods where losses outweighed gains. These metrics together describe a fund that offers stability in terms of price fluctuation but has faced challenges in generating positive risk-adjusted performance recently.

AI-generated summary based on the data on this page.

IUSB Top Holdings

Holdings as of 2026-04-30 per the fund's most recent SEC N-PORT-P filing. Top 10 holdings make up 6.7% of net assets — a rough gauge of concentration risk (the higher this figure, the more the fund's return depends on a handful of names). To see how IUSB's holdings overlap with other ETFs you own or are considering, check the Stock Overlap tool.

Which Funds Overlap With IUSB

Holding two funds that own the same companies adds cost and complexity without adding much diversification. These tracked ETFs share the most names with IUSB's top 10 — SHV overlaps most, holding 2 of the same companies as IUSB's top 10 (3.8% of IUSB's assets).

Compares the top 10 reported holdings of each fund, so it's a floor on true overlap — two S&P 500 trackers overlap ~100% even when only 10 names are listed. Use the Stock Overlap tool to search by individual company.

Market Backdrop

10-Year Treasury Yield: 4.65% (as of 2026-07-27) — The yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds — the standard "risk-free rate" benchmark used to contextualize this fund’s Sharpe ratio and returns.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX): 18.67 (as of 2026-07-27) — A real-time gauge of expected S&P 500 volatility over the next 30 days — useful context for this fund’s own volatility label.

Federal Funds Rate: 3.63% (as of 2026-06-01) — The Federal Reserve’s target policy rate, which anchors short-term borrowing costs across the economy.

IUSB Liquidity, Domicile & Tax Treatment

Liquidity: Quoted bid/ask spread is 0.22% and average daily volume is 5.9M/day. Tighter spreads and higher volume mean lower round-trip trading costs; this is a live-market snapshot and can widen during volatile sessions. AUM of $42.8B provides ample scale, supporting tight spreads and issuer commitment to keep the fund open.

Domicile & tax treatment: IUSB is a US-domiciled, SEC-registered ('40 Act) exchange-traded fund. Dividends and capital gains distributions are reported to US investors on Form 1099-DIV, and the fund is not subject to the PFIC reporting or UCITS-specific rules that apply to Irish- or Luxembourg-domiciled funds. Non-US investors should note that US-domiciled ETFs are generally subject to 30% US withholding tax on dividends (unless reduced by treaty) and to US estate tax exposure on the position — Irish-domiciled UCITS ETFs tracking the same index often avoid both, which is why non-US residents frequently prefer the UCITS equivalent where one exists. This is general information, not tax advice — consult a tax professional for your situation.

IUSB Performance History

How IUSB Compares to Other US Bonds - Broad ETFs