ETF Evaluator: iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF (ISTB) Follow This ETF

iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF Overview

iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF (ISTB) is a passively managed Taxable Bond Short-Term Bond exchange-traded fund (ETF). iShares launched the ETF in 2012.

The investment seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg U.S. Universal 1-5 Year Index, which measures the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated taxable bonds that are rated either investment-grade or high yield with remaining effective maturities between one and five years. The fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the index and TBA transactions that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of the component securities of the index and it will invest at least 90% of its assets in fixed income securities of the types included in the index.

About iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF (ISTB)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 5.18 years: James Mauro (2012), Jonathan Graves (2025) and Marcus Tom (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US Universal TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Bloomberg US Universal 1-5 Years TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF has 7297 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 8.8% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond ETF group. iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF has 18.0% 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 99.1% (81.1% domestic bond, 18.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF has 0.9% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $5 billion in total assets, which is above the $3 billion average for the Short-Term 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.

ISTB 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 Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF expense ratio is low compared to funds in the Short-Term Bond category. iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF has an expense ratio of 0.06%, which is 78% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. 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 Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 39%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 77% for the Short-Term Bond category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF returned 0.1%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Short-Term Bond category had an average return of 0.1%. 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 ETFs in that category.

iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF has a trailing yield of 4.24%, which is below the 4.55% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly.

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 Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 0.7%, 0.4 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 3.4% over the past year (grade of D), 5.1% over the past three years (grade of F) and 1.9% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 2.3% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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