iShares iBonds Dec 2031 Term Corporate ETF

The iShares iBonds Dec 2031 Term Corporate ETF (IBDW) holds investment-grade US dollar corporate bonds that mature in 2031. The fund will close on or about December 15, 2031, and pay out what remains. That fixed end date makes it act more like a basket of individual bonds than an ordinary bond fund. Its 0.10% expense ratio is close to the 0.11% peer average but higher than broad corporate bond ETFs that charge 0.03%–0.04%.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, IBDW returned -0.7%, 7th of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +0.2%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-17.1%); its best was 2023 (+9.3%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 23.9% (Aug 3, 2021 to Oct 20, 2022), recovered by Feb 9, 2026.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 615 securities; the ten largest made up 7.48% of assets, and 10.22% sat in cash and money-market holdings.

The bonds mature in 4.8 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 3.85%.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $211.5M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.24%, +0.08%, -0.64%.

IBDW tracks the Bloomberg December 2031 Maturity Corporate Index. That index starts with the broad Bloomberg U.S. Corporate Index and keeps only the bonds that mature between January 1 and December 15, 2031. To qualify, a bond must be in US dollars, pay a fixed rate and have at least $300 million outstanding. It must also be investment grade, meaning rated BBB- or higher by S&P or Fitch, or Baa3 or higher by Moody's. These are the ratings agencies give to issuers they judge most likely to repay.

Bonds are weighted by market value, and each issuer is usually capped at 3%. The index is updated at the end of every month until June 30, 2031. BlackRock uses representative sampling, which means it holds a group of bonds that closely matches the index without owning every one. As of July 31, 2026, the fund held 615 bonds, and the top 10 made up 7.48% of assets. The largest were SpaceX (1.0%), NVIDIA (0.97%), and several Amazon, Salesforce and Oracle bonds.

In the final six months the index stops rebalancing. The only change is that bonds cut below investment grade are removed. As bonds mature, the fund holds the proceeds as cash, so its yield drifts toward money market rates. It then closes and pays out its remaining assets. The fund does not promise any set amount at maturity, and its monthly payouts vary.

• IBDW charges 0.1% a year, versus an average of 0.11% for the similar funds below (7th 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).

IBDW pays monthly income from investment-grade corporate bonds and has a known end date in December 2031, which can be matched to a planned expense.

IBDW can add monthly income and a known end date to a bond allocation. That may help line money up with spending planned for late 2031. Its trailing 12-month yield was 4.79% as of October 27, 2026. Under the SEC's standard example, it costs $10 in the first year on a $10,000 investment. The fund launched in June 2021, so it has no record from the 2008 or 2020 crashes. In 2022, its worst calendar year at -17.09%, rising interest rates pushed it down as much as 20.2%. Its deepest drop was 23.9%, from August 2021 to October 2022, and it took about 40 months to recover. Anyone who had to sell in late 2022 would have locked in that loss. Holding to maturity avoids selling at a low point, but it does not guarantee getting the original price back. 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).