iShares 25+ Year Treasury STRIPS Bond ETF

iShares 25+ Year Treasury STRIPS Bond ETF (GOVZ) holds zero-coupon US Treasury bonds. These are principal STRIPS that mature in 25 years or more, and the fund tracks the ICE BofA Long US Treasury Principal STRIPS Index. Because the bonds pay nothing until they mature, their prices react to interest rates more than regular Treasuries of similar maturity. The fund lost 41.34% in 2022. It costs 0.10% a year after a fee waiver, while SPTL and VGLT charge 0.03%.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, GOVZ returned -12.6%, 8th of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was -13.9%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-41.0%); its best was 2023 (+1.0%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 60.4% (Dec 3, 2021 to Oct 7, 2026), not yet recovered.

As of Aug 31, 2026, the fund held 20 securities; the ten largest made up 54.55% of assets.

The bonds mature in 27.2 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 0%.

• Over the three months to Aug 31, 2026, investors added a net $77.5M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +2.23%, -8.10%, +0.95%.

GOVZ, from BlackRock, tracks the ICE BofA Long US Treasury Principal STRIPS Index, run by ICE Data Indices. STRIPS are created by splitting a U.S. Treasury bond's interest payments from its final principal payment. The index holds only the principal pieces, which act as zero-coupon bonds: they pay no interest, sell below face value and pay full face value at maturity. Each must have at least 25 years left to maturity and come from a Treasury bond with at least $1 billion outstanding.

Each issue is weighted by its market price times an assumed $1 billion face value, so longer-dated STRIPS, which trade at deeper discounts, tend to weigh less. The index is rebalanced quarterly. As of August 31, 2026, the fund held 20 issues averaging 27.2 years to maturity; the largest was about 7.6% of assets and the top 10 about 55%.

BlackRock uses representative sampling: it may skip some index bonds while aiming to match the index's duration (sensitivity to rate changes), maturity and yield. At least 90% of assets must be in Treasuries and 80% in index securities; up to 10% may go into futures, options and swaps. Because the bonds pay nothing until maturity, their prices swing more with interest rates than those of ordinary Treasuries of similar maturity.

• GOVZ charges 0.1% a year, versus an average of 0.08% for the similar funds below (5th of 8, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.15% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• The fee includes a 0.05% waiver from the adviser, which may end.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $10 in the first year and $178 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It holds only US Treasury debt, but its zero-coupon, 27-year average maturity makes its price swings and drawdowns much deeper than those of a typical bond fund.

GOVZ carries very little credit risk but extreme interest-rate risk. It launched in September 2020, so it has no record from the 2008 crisis or the 2020 crash. In the 2022 bear market it fell 39% between January and October, and it lost 41.34% for calendar 2022. Its deepest drop was 60.4%, from December 3, 2021 to October 7, 2026, and it had not recovered as of October 27, 2026. Anyone who had to sell shares in a bad year would have locked in large losses.

Its bonds pay no coupons. Tax rules generally require funds to pay out the interest that builds up on zero-coupon bonds, so GOVZ still pays monthly. Its trailing 12-month yield was 5.53% as of October 27, 2026. Expenses are 0.10% after a waiver. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

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