iShares iBonds Dec 2027 Term Corporate ETF

iShares iBonds Dec 2027 Term Corporate ETF (IBDS) holds investment-grade US dollar corporate bonds that mature in 2027. It is a term fund: it plans to close on or about December 15, 2027 and pay out its remaining assets, so it has an end date much like a single bond. It charges 0.10% a year. That is below the 0.13% average of similar funds but above several short-term corporate bond ETFs that charge 0.03% to 0.04%.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, IBDS returned +3.4%, 1st of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +1.8%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 16.7% and regained its old high 2.7 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-9.5%); its best was 2019 (+15.0%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 16.7% (Mar 5, 2020 to Mar 20, 2020), recovered by Jun 10, 2020.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 659 securities; the ten largest made up 5.83% of assets, and 7.78% sat in cash and money-market holdings.

The bonds mature in 0.9 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 3.8%.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $78.4M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.35%, +0.22%, +0.31%.

IBDS tracks the Bloomberg December 2027 Maturity Corporate Index. The index starts with the Bloomberg U.S. Corporate Index and keeps only bonds scheduled to mature between January 1 and December 15, 2027. Each bond must be in US dollars and pay a fixed rate. It must be investment grade, meaning rated Baa3 or BBB- or higher by the major rating agencies. The issuer must also have at least $300 million of the bond outstanding. Some issuers are outside the US, mostly in developed countries.

Bonds are weighted by market value, and any one issuer is usually capped at 3%. The index is updated at the end of each month until six months before maturity, and its last rebalance is June 30, 2027. After that, the only change is removing bonds that drop below investment grade. When a bond matures, its value is held as cash, which is why cash made up 7.78% of the fund as of July 31, 2026. BlackRock's fund adviser uses representative sampling: it buys a selection of bonds that closely matches the index rather than every single one.

On or about December 15, 2027, the fund plans to liquidate and send its remaining net assets to shareholders. It does not promise to return any set amount. Its monthly income will vary, and near the end its yield may drift toward money market rates.

• IBDS charges 0.1% a year, versus an average of 0.13% for the similar funds below (6th of 8, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $10 in the first year and $— over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

Its bonds all mature in 2027 and the fund plans to pay out around December 15, 2027, so it can serve as a high-grade reserve for money needed around that date.

IBDS could hold money a retiree expects to spend around late 2027. It launched in September 2017, so it has no 2008 record. Between March 5 and March 20, 2020, it fell 16.7%, then recovered by June 10, 2020. In 2022 it dropped 12.6% and took about 23 months to recover. It lost 9.73% that calendar year, its worst. Its bonds had years left to maturity back then. As of July 31, 2026, the average was 0.9 years, and bonds that close to maturity usually move less in price. They can still lose value, though, through a downgrade or default. It pays monthly, with a trailing 12-month yield of 4.27% as of October 27, 2026. That yield may fall as bonds mature. The fund costs 0.10% a year, or $10 on $10,000 in the SEC's one-year example. 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).