5 Best U.S. Long Term Bond ETFs to Own Long Term: RVNU vs BAB vs VCLT vs SPLB vs IGLB 1.7

  • Asset Category: Long Term Bonds (U.S. Long Term Treasuries)

  • Long-Term Performance: 6.97% CAGR

  • Correlation to U.S. markets: 0.06

  • S&P 500 Performance (US Large Cap Blend): 11.43% CAGR

  • Back test timeframe: January 1978 – September 2023

  • Oldest Long Term Bond ETF back tested: iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT)

  • Long-Term Performance: 3.73% CAGR

  • Correlation to U.S. markets: -0.17

  • S&P 500 Performance: 9.65% CAGR

  • Back test timeframe: August 2002 – September 2023

  • Number of ETFs available in this asset class: 40

  • Number of ETFs in this asset class that are 10 years old or older: 18

U.S. Long Bonds vs U.S. Large Cap Blend Equities: January 1978 – September 2023

TLT vs SPY: August 2002 – September 2023

TLT vs SPY: July 26, 2002 – October 6, 2023

The Deep Value ETF Accumulator rankings for the 18 oldest Long Term Bond ETFs: 

The 5 top ranked Long Term Bond ETFs head-to-head comparisons: 

RVNU vs BAB vs VCLT vs SPLB vs IGLB: July 2013 – September 2023

RVNU vs BAB vs VCLT vs SPLB vs IGLB: June 4, 2013 – October 6, 2023

Stated objectives of top 5 ranked Long Term Bond ETFs:

RVNU – The Xtrackers Municipal Infrastructure Revenue Bond ETF (the “Fund”) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Solactive Municipal Infrastructure Revenue Bond Index (the “Underlying Index”).

BAB – The Invesco Taxable Municipal Bond ETF (Fund) is based on the ICE BofAML US Taxable Municipal Securities Plus Index (Index). The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in the securities that comprise the Index. The Index is designed to track the performance of US dollar-denominated taxable municipal debt publicly issued by US states and territories, and their political subdivisions, in the US market. The Fund does not purchase all of the securities in the Index; instead, the Fund utilizes a “sampling” methodology to seek to achieve its investment objective. The Fund and the Index are rebalanced and reconstituted monthly.

VCLT – Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF. Seeks to provide a high and sustainable level of current income. Invests primarily in high-quality (investment-grade) corporate bonds. Maintains a dollar-weighted average maturity of 10 to 25 years.

SPLB – The SPDR® Portfolio Long Term Corporate Bond ETF seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Bloomberg Long U.S. Corporate Index (the “Index”). One of the low cost core SPDR Portfolio ETFs, a suite of portfolio building blocks designed to provide broad, diversified exposure to core asset classes. A low cost ETF that seeks to offer precise, comprehensive exposure to US corporate bonds that have a maturity greater than or equal to 10 years
The Index includes investment grade, fixed rate, taxable, US dollar denominated debt with $300 million of par outstanding, and is market cap weighted and reconstituted on the last business day of the month.

ILTB – The iShares 10+ Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated investment-grade corporate bonds with remaining maturities greater than ten years. Exposure to long-term U.S. investment grade corporate bonds. Low cost, targeted access to bonds with 10+ year maturities. Use to customize a bond allocation and pursue income.

Thank you for taking time to read this article. If you found it useful, please share it with a friend.

Respectfully yours, Micah McDonald, aka the Deep Value ETF Accumulator

Previous Deep Value ETF Accumulator article on Long Term Bond ETFs:

4 Best U.S. Long Term Government Bond ETFs to Own Long-Term 1.6

Disclosure: We currently own shares of EDV and intend to buy more shares in the future. I am not a professional investment advisor. Please perform your own due diligence or seek the advice of a Registered Investment Advisor before investing in any security mentioned in this article. This website contains affiliate links to Google AdSense.