IGIB vs LQD: Which ETF Is Better in 2026?
A metric-by-metric comparison of iShares 5-10 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (IGIB) and iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) — both US Bonds - Corporate funds — using ETFValuer's daily-updated rankings.
Educational content — not financial advice. Data as of July 25, 2026. ~5 minute read.
The Verdict
IGIB and LQD compete directly — both are US Bonds - Corporate funds chasing the same job in a portfolio. That makes this a genuine either/or: the index each tracks, what it costs, and how it has handled drawdowns are what separate them, not the broad exposure they give you.
On ETFValuer's overall model — which blends return, risk-adjusted performance, cost, drawdown, size and volatility — IGIB scores higher: 58.1 (Grade C) versus 55.0 for LQD. That doesn't make LQD a bad fund; it means IGIB currently edges it out on this specific mix of factors. Read the metric-by-metric breakdown below before deciding which matters more for your own portfolio.
Head-to-Head: Every Metric
| IGIB | LQD | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | US Bonds - Corporate | US Bonds - Corporate |
| Expense ratio | 0.04% | 0.14% |
| Fund size (AUM) | $18.5B | $33.1B |
| Dividend yield | 4.79% | 3.00% |
| 1-year return | +3.26% | +2.12% |
| 3-year return | +18.14% | +12.52% |
| Volatility | 4.13% | 5.29% |
| Max drawdown | -5.92% | -8.15% |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.42 | -0.54 |
| ETFValuer score | 58.1 | 55.0 |
| Grade | C | C |
| Overall rank | #278 | #325 |
Bold marks the better value in each row. "Better" is directional only (e.g. lower cost, higher return) — it isn't a recommendation by itself. See the full methodology.
Cost
IGIB is the cheaper fund, charging 0.04% a year versus 0.14% for LQD — a gap of 0.10 percentage points (about $10.00/year on a $10,000 position) that compounds meaningfully over a multi-decade holding period. See the ETF Fee Calculator for the exact dollar impact at your investment size and horizon.
What LQD's Fees Cost You
LQD charges an expense ratio of 0.14% a year, deducted automatically from the fund's value. Small percentages compound into real money — adjust the figures below to see the impact on your own numbers.
Assumes a constant gross return and no additional contributions — a simplification, but it isolates exactly what the expense ratio costs. Try the full fee calculator to model contributions and compare any two funds.
Performance & Risk
Over the trailing 3 years, IGIB returned +18.14% versus +12.52% for LQD — a gap of about 5.6 percentage points. On risk, IGIB has held up better historically, with a shallower max drawdown (-5.92% vs. -8.15%). IGIB currently has the better risk-adjusted return (Sharpe ratio of -0.42 vs. -0.54), meaning it delivered more return per unit of volatility taken on.
How Closely Do They Track Each Other?
Over the last 3.0 years of daily returns (752 shared trading days), IGIB and LQD show a extremely high correlation of 0.978 — very close substitutes. Holding both would add very little diversification: when one falls, the other almost always falls with it. Treat these as alternatives to each other, not as complements in the same portfolio.
| Measure | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Daily return correlation | 0.978 | Extremely high — very close substitutes |
| R-squared | 95.6% | 95.6% of IGIB's daily moves are explained by LQD's |
| Tracking error (annualised) | 2.20% | Typical yearly spread between the two funds' returns |
| Annualised return over 3.0y | IGIB +5.84% · LQD +4.09% | IGIB ahead by 1.75 points a year |
Correlation alone understates how far these can drift. Across every rolling 12-month window in the period, IGIB finished as much as +2.9 points ahead of LQD at the best extreme and -0.9 points at the worst — a 3.8-point spread between the best and worst year of relative performance. Two funds can correlate tightly day to day and still deliver very different outcomes over any single year you happen to hold them.
Calculated from daily total returns over the trailing 3-year window, recomputed every day this site refreshes. Correlation of 1.00 means the two funds moved in lockstep; 0.00 means their daily moves were unrelated.
Holdings Overlap
IGIB and LQD hold 5 of the same companies among their top 10 positions. Those shared names make up 11.9% of IGIB and 8.1% of LQD. That's meaningful duplication. The funds aren't interchangeable, but a good share of your money would be riding on the same companies twice.
| Shared Holding | IGIB Weight | LQD Weight |
|---|---|---|
| BlackRock Funds III | 11.07% | 7.23% |
| META PLATFORMS INC | 0.23% | 0.31% |
| ANHEUSER-BUSCH CO/INBEV | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| AMAZON.COM INC | 0.22% | 0.15% |
| PFIZER INVESTMENT ENTER | 0.18% | 0.15% |
Compares the top 10 reported holdings from each fund's most recent SEC N-PORT-P filing, so it understates total overlap — funds tracking similar indexes overlap far more deeply than the top 10 alone can show. Search any company across all tracked funds with the Stock Overlap tool.
Which One Should You Pick?
Lean IGIB if…
- You want the lower running cost — 0.04% vs 0.14%, about $10 a year less on a $10,000 position
- Current income matters to you — it yields 4.79% against 3.00%
- It has been the calmer ride (4.1% volatility vs 5.3%) with a shallower worst-case fall (-5.9% vs -8.2%)
- You care about return per unit of risk — its Sharpe ratio of -0.42 beats -0.54
Lean LQD if…
- You have no strong preference — LQD is a perfectly reasonable default here
Whichever you pick, holding both at full weight is usually the wrong answer — see the overlap and correlation sections above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is IGIB or LQD better?
On ETFValuer's overall model — which blends return, risk-adjusted performance, cost, drawdown, size and volatility — IGIB scores higher: 58.1 (Grade C) versus 55.0 for LQD. That doesn't make LQD a bad fund; it means IGIB currently edges it out on this specific mix of factors. Read the metric-by-metric breakdown below before deciding which matters more for your own portfolio.
Which has the lower expense ratio, IGIB or LQD?
IGIB currently has the lower expense ratio (0.04% vs. 0.14%).
Can I hold both IGIB and LQD?
You can, but there's little point. IGIB and LQD have a daily return correlation of 0.98 over the past 3.0 years, meaning they move almost in lockstep. Holding both roughly doubles a single bet rather than spreading it — pick whichever wins on cost and liquidity and put the money in one place.
Go deeper on either fund
Full daily-updated metrics, holdings context, and category peers.