SPDR Portfolio Long Term Treasury ETF

SPDR Portfolio Long Term Treasury ETF (SPTL) is a State Street index fund that holds U.S. Treasury bonds with 10 or more years left to maturity, tracking the Bloomberg Long U.S. Treasury Index. Its 0.03% expense ratio matches Schwab's SCHQ and Vanguard's VGLT and is well below the 0.15% average of similar funds. Its bonds averaged 21.8 years to maturity as of June 30, 2026, so its price swings sharply when interest rates move.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, SPTL returned -6.0%, 6th of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was -6.8%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-29.4%); its best was 2025 (+5.2%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 46.1% (Aug 4, 2020 to Oct 19, 2023), not yet recovered.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 99 securities; the ten largest made up 21.37% of assets.

The bonds mature in 21.8 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 3.53%.

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors added a net $32.2M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: -0.68%, +0.51%, +1.02%.

SPTL tracks the Bloomberg Long U.S. Treasury Index. Bloomberg Index Services, which is not affiliated with State Street, runs the index. The index includes publicly issued U.S. Treasury bonds that have at least 10 years left until they mature, at least $300 million outstanding and a fixed interest rate. It leaves out Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), stripped coupons and special issues. As of July 31, 2026, the index held 99 bonds.

Each bond is weighted by its market value, so the largest Treasury issues count the most. The index is updated on the last business day of each month. The adviser, SSGA Funds Management, uses sampling. That means it can buy a smaller set of index bonds with similar risk and return, or nearly all of them. The fund must keep at least 80% of net assets in index securities and can hold cash or money market funds. Portfolio turnover (the share of holdings replaced in a year) was 4%.

As of June 30, 2026, the fund held 99 Treasury bonds and no derivatives. No single bond made up more than about 2.2% of assets, and the 10 largest made up 21.4%. There is no leverage and no option strategy. The key thing to understand is that bond prices move opposite to interest rates, and long maturities react the most.

• SPTL charges 0.03% a year, versus an average of 0.15% for the similar funds below (1st of 8, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $3 in the first year and $39 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

Long-dated Treasuries have at times risen when stocks fell, as in early 2020, but they can fall hard when interest rates climb.

Long-term Treasuries have often held up when stocks crashed. SPTL gained 20.89% in the quarter ending March 31, 2020, the quarter of the COVID crash, and 17.69% for that year. But it offers little shelter when interest rates rise. It fell about 28.7% during the 2022 bear market and lost 29.63% that year, its worst calendar year. Its deepest drop was 46.1%, from August 2020 to October 2023, and it had not recovered as of October 27, 2026. Anyone forced to sell during a stretch like that would lock in large losses.

The trailing 12-month yield was about 4.3% as of October 27, 2026, paid monthly. Costs are low: in the SEC's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost $39 over 10 years. 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).