Fund Evaluator:

iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Idx Inv A Overview

iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Idx Inv A (BAIPX) is a passively managed Taxable Bond Short-Term Inflation-Protected Bond fund. BlackRock launched the fund in 2016.

The investment seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. 0-5 Year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities ("TIPS"). The fund seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities 0-5 Years Index (Series-L) (the "underlying index"), which measures the performance of inflation-protected public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have a remaining maturity of less than five years. It generally invests at least 90% of its assets, plus the amount of any borrowing for investment purposes, in securities of the underlying index.

About iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Idx Inv A (BAIPX)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 4.07 years: James Mauro (2016), Jonathan Graves (2025), Marcus Tom (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: ICE BofA US Broad Market TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Bloomberg US TIPS 0-5 Year TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Idx Inv A has 27 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 50.7% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Idx Inv A is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Idx Inv A has 0.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0%. There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 95.3% (95.3% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Idx Inv A has 4.7% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $6 million in total assets, which is below the $1 billion average for the Short-Term Inflation-Protected Bond category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

BAIPX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Idx Inv A expense ratio is below average compared to funds in the Short-Term Inflation-Protected Bond category. iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Idx Inv A has an expense ratio of 0.36%, which is 30% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Idx Inv A has a portfolio turnover rate of 12%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 63% for the Short-Term Inflation-Protected Bond category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Idx Inv A returned -0.4%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Short-Term Inflation-Protected Bond category had an average return of -0.5%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Idx Inv A has a trailing yield of 4.92%, which is above the 4.31% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

iShares Short-Term TIPS Bond Idx Inv A Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 1.5%, 0.1 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 3.2% over the past year (grade of C), 4.8% over the past three years (grade of D) and 3.0% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and 2.7% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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