iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF

The iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT) tracks the ICE U.S. Treasury Core Bond Index, holding U.S. government notes and bonds with more than one year left until maturity. Rather than targeting one maturity range, it spans them all, averaging 7.4 years to maturity as of July 31, 2026. Its 0.05% annual fee (expense ratio) is half the 0.10% average of similar funds, though Vanguard's VGIT charges 0.03%.

• Over the year to Nov 2, 2026, GOVT returned -0.5%, 7th of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was -0.7% and its 10-year +0.8%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash, while stocks fell, it gained 5.7%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-13.3%); its best was 2019 (+7.4%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 19.1% (Aug 4, 2020 to Oct 19, 2023), not yet recovered.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 214 securities; the ten largest made up 21.71% of assets.

The bonds mature in 7.4 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 3.24%.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $3.23B (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.09%, +0.30%, -1.12%.

GOVT tracks the ICE U.S. Treasury Core Bond Index, built by independent provider ICE Data Indices. The index includes fixed-rate Treasury notes and bonds with more than a year left to maturity and at least $300 million outstanding, not counting the Federal Reserve's holdings. It excludes Treasury bills, inflation-protected Treasuries, zero-coupon securities and issues sold mainly to individual savers. Bonds are weighted by market value, so the biggest issues count most. As of October 31, 2025, the index had 294 issues.

The index rebalances on the last calendar day of each month. New issues join only if auctioned by then, and bonds with a year or less left drop out.

BlackRock does not try to beat the index or turn defensive in falling markets, and it need not buy every bond. It uses representative sampling, holding a subset chosen to match the index's maturity, yield and interest-rate sensitivity (duration). As of July 31, 2026, the fund held 214 securities; the largest, a single Treasury note, was 5.3% of assets, and the top 10 made up 21.7%. At least 80% must be in index bonds, and up to 10% may go into futures, options or swaps, though it held none. It may also lend out securities worth up to one-third of its assets.

• GOVT charges 0.05% a year, versus an average of 0.1% for the similar funds below (4th of 8, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $5 in the first year and $64 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It gained during the 2020 stock crash and barely moved with stocks in the year to October 27, 2026, though 2022 showed it can fall alongside them.

GOVT launched in 2012, after the 2008 crisis. During the 2020 COVID crash it gained 5.7% while stocks fell, despite a brief 4.6% dip that it recovered within about a month. It offered no such cushion in 2022, its worst calendar year, losing 12.69% according to the prospectus. Its deepest drop, 19.1% from August 2020 to October 2023, was still unrecovered as of October 27, 2026. Because bond prices fall when rates rise, selling shares in such a stretch could lock in losses.

It pays income monthly, which can supply cash without selling shares. Its trailing 12-month yield (the past year's income divided by the price) was 3.74% as of October 27, 2026. At 0.05% a year, costs total about $64 over 10 years on $10,000 under the SEC's standard example. Past results don't predict future ones, and a plan should weigh the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by bond funds with the closest average maturity and issuer mix (N-PORT).