# IUSB ETF: fees, returns, drawdowns and holdings

> What IUSB holds, its 0.06% yearly fee, returns by year, its worst drop, and which Tactfolio strategies hold it. Updated daily.

iShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF (IUSB) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by iShares (BlackRock). This fund holds more than 18,000 bonds paid in US dollars. It charges 0.06% a year. From June 2014 to October 2026 it returned about 2.0% a year, and its worst drop was −17.9%.

Written by [the Tactfolio research team](https://tactfolio.com/about/editorial-policy). Fund facts checked October 17, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.

## Key points

- Expense ratio: 0.06% a year (about $6 on $10,000).
- Started trading on June 10, 2014.
- Last close: $44.47 on October 16, 2026.
- Return over the last year: −1.4%.
- Worst drop since 2014: −17.9%.
- No Tactfolio classic strategies hold it.

## How has IUSB done since 2014?

From June 2014 to October 2026, IUSB returned about 2.0% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 13.7% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $12,703 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.

| Period | IUSB | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 month | −0.2% | 1.5% |
| 3 months | −1.8% | 1.9% |
| 6 months | −2.0% | 9.3% |
| Year to date | −1.4% | 12.8% |
| 1 year | −1.4% | 16.8% |
| 3 years, per year | 5.2% | 22.0% |
| 5 years, per year | 0.0% | 12.8% |
| 10 years, per year | 1.6% | 15.4% |
| Since 2014, per year | 2.0% | 13.7% |

Periods longer than a year show the return per year (CAGR). Prices through October 16, 2026. Figures use daily closing prices adjusted for splits, with dividends reinvested. They do not include taxes or the cost of buying and selling. Past results do not tell you what will happen next.

## IUSB returns by month and year

IUSB rose in 86 of its 149 months (58%). Its best month was November 2023, at 4.6%. Its worst was September 2022, at −4.1%.

| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Full year |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 (part) | 0.2% | 1.5% | −1.8% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.3% | −1.2% | 0.4% | −2.6% | 1.2% |  |  | −1.4% |
| 2025 | 0.5% | 2.1% | 0.0% | 0.3% | −0.4% | 1.5% | −0.2% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 0.6% | 0.6% | −0.2% | 7.4% |
| 2024 | 0.4% | −1.8% | 0.9% | −2.4% | 1.8% | 0.8% | 2.3% | 1.5% | 1.4% | −2.4% | 1.2% | −1.5% | 2.1% |
| 2023 | 3.3% | −2.6% | 2.6% | 0.5% | −1.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | −0.6% | −2.4% | −1.6% | 4.6% | 3.7% | 6.2% |
| 2022 | −2.1% | −1.3% | −2.7% | −3.9% | 0.6% | −1.9% | 2.6% | −2.8% | −4.1% | −1.1% | 4.3% | −1.2% | −13.0% |
| 2021 | −0.6% | −1.5% | −1.0% | 0.8% | 0.2% | 0.8% | 1.0% | −0.1% | −0.9% | −0.1% | 0.1% | −0.1% | −1.3% |
| 2020 | 1.9% | 1.2% | −1.8% | 1.8% | 1.5% | 0.8% | 1.6% | −0.8% | −0.1% | −0.4% | 1.3% | 0.4% | 7.6% |
| 2019 | 1.2% | 0.2% | 1.8% | 0.2% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2.4% | −0.4% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 9.1% |
| 2018 | −0.9% | −1.2% | 0.8% | −0.9% | 0.5% | −0.1% | 0.4% | 0.4% | −0.5% | −0.9% | 0.5% | 1.6% | −0.3% |
| 2017 | −0.1% | 0.9% | 0.2% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.5% | 0.8% | −0.4% | 0.2% | −0.2% | 0.3% | 3.8% |
| 2016 | 0.7% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 2.0% | 1.0% | 0.0% | −0.1% | −0.7% | −2.4% | 0.4% | 3.5% |
| 2015 | 2.2% | −0.7% | 0.9% | −0.4% | −0.1% | −1.0% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.3% | −0.1% | −0.8% | 0.4% |
| 2014 (part) |  |  |  |  |  | 0.4% | −0.4% | 1.1% | −0.7% | 1.2% | 0.4% | −0.1% | 1.9% |

Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.

## How risky is IUSB compared with the S&P 500?

Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.

- **Beta 0.09.** When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, IUSB tended to move about 0.09%.
- **Correlation 0.28.** IUSB moved mostly on its own, apart from the S&P 500.
- **Up and down months.** In months the S&P 500 rose, IUSB rose 22% as much on average. In months it fell, IUSB fell 39% as much.

| Measure | IUSB | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Return per year | 0.0% | 12.8% |
| Volatility | 5.9% | 17.1% |
| Worst drop | −17.4% | −24.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.03 | 0.79 |
| Sortino ratio | 0.04 | 1.15 |
| Calmar ratio | 0.00 | 0.52 |

Volatility is how much the price swings in a year. The Sharpe ratio is return per unit of volatility, the Sortino ratio counts only the falls, and the Calmar ratio is the return per year over the worst drop. Higher ratios mean more return for the risk taken.

## Is IUSB above its 200-day average?

IUSB closed 1.5% below its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds IUSB only above that average would be out of it today.

- Its 50-day average is 1.0% below its 200-day average.
- It closed 3.1% below its highest close of the last 52 weeks.

A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as [the 10-month moving average strategy](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/faber-10-month-moving-average.md) hold a fund only while it is above one. You can [build that rule for IUSB](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and backtest it in a minute.

## What was IUSB's worst drop?

A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. IUSB's worst fall was −17.9%, from December 31, 2020 to October 20, 2022. It got back to that high on October 20, 2025. On October 16, 2026 it was 3.1% below its highest close.

| Drop | Started | Bottom | Back to the high | Fall took | Recovery took |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −17.9% | Dec 31, 2020 | Oct 20, 2022 | Oct 20, 2025 | 22 months | 3.0 years |
| −9.9% | Mar 6, 2020 | Mar 19, 2020 | Jun 10, 2020 | 13 days | 3 months |
| −4.3% | Feb 27, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 | Not yet | 7 months | n/a |
| −4.0% | Sep 7, 2016 | Dec 15, 2016 | Jul 21, 2017 | 3 months | 7 months |
| −3.3% | Sep 7, 2017 | May 16, 2018 | Jan 30, 2019 | 8 months | 9 months |

Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.

## What does IUSB hold?

This fund holds more than 18,000 bonds paid in US dollars. Most are high quality, but some are riskier junk bonds. When interest rates go up, bond prices usually go down.

It tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index. It had 18,251 holdings as of October 15, 2026, according to iShares (BlackRock).

| Fact | IUSB |
| --- | --- |
| Full name | iShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF |
| Issuer | iShares (BlackRock) |
| Expense ratio | 0.06% a year |
| Started trading | June 10, 2014 |
| Tracks | Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index |
| Type | US bonds, ETF |
| Holdings | 18,251 holdings as of October 15, 2026 |
| Facts checked | October 17, 2026 on the [iShares (BlackRock) fund page](https://www.ishares.com/us/products/264615/ishares-core-universal-usd-bond-etf) |

## What is the IUSB expense ratio?

IUSB charges 0.06% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.06% fee comes to about $6 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 72% charge more.

You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.

## Which Tactfolio strategies hold IUSB?

No classic strategy holds IUSB yet. You can add it to your own rules in the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and see how they would have done.

## How does IUSB compare with similar ETFs?

Funds that can stand in for IUSB:

- [AGG](https://tactfolio.com/etf/AGG.md): iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, 0.03% a year
- [BND](https://tactfolio.com/etf/BND.md): Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF, 0.03% a year
- [SCHZ](https://tactfolio.com/etf/SCHZ.md): Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, 0.03% a year
- [VGIT](https://tactfolio.com/etf/VGIT.md): Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF, 0.03% a year

See [all 7 IUSB alternatives](https://tactfolio.com/alternatives/IUSB.md), compared on the same dates as IUSB.

## Test IUSB in your own rules

Tactfolio is a platform where you build rules-based investing strategies, backtest them on decades of real prices, share them, and run them automatically in your own Alpaca account. Open the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder), add IUSB, and see how a rule such as "hold it only above its 200-day average" would have done. Strategies run on daily prices and hold US stocks and ETFs only.

## The details

Prices come from Tactfolio's stored daily prices for IUSB and SPY. Each close is adjusted for splits, and dividends are reinvested on the day the fund pays them out. CAGR is the steady yearly return that turns the starting value into the ending value. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Beta and correlation compare daily returns with the S&P 500 over the same dates.

Fund facts come from iShares (BlackRock). We checked them on October 17, 2026. Read [what a backtest simulates](https://tactfolio.com/docs/backtests.md) and [how to read drawdown and CAGR](https://tactfolio.com/docs/concepts/reading-a-backtest.md) for more on these measures.

## Research and test it

- [Portfolio rebalancing](https://tactfolio.com/learn/portfolio-rebalancing): What portfolio rebalancing is, why a 60/40 mix drifts, calendar vs threshold methods, and how taxes and costs fit in.
- [Risk parity](https://tactfolio.com/learn/risk-parity): Risk parity balances risk instead of dollars. See a simple stock and bond example, why funds use leverage, and what went wrong in 2022.
- [ETF screener](https://tactfolio.com/screener.md): A free ETF screener for 162 US-listed funds. Filter by type, issuer and fee, sort by returns or worst drop, and compare funds side by side.
- [ETF expense ratio](https://tactfolio.com/learn/etf-expense-ratio): What an ETF expense ratio is, how the fund charges it, and how 0.03% vs 1% adds up over 10 and 30 years, with real fund examples.
- [Backtest a portfolio](https://tactfolio.com/trading-tools/backtest-portfolio): Backtest a portfolio of US stocks and ETFs. Enter tickers and shares, pick when to rebalance, and get the results with a link to share.
- [Backtesting](https://tactfolio.com/backtesting): Free backtesting software for stocks, ETFs, and crypto perps.

## Common questions

### What is the expense ratio of IUSB?

IUSB charges 0.06% a year, according to iShares (BlackRock) as of October 17, 2026. That is about $6 a year for every $10,000 you hold.

### When did IUSB start trading?

IUSB started trading on June 10, 2014. It is run by iShares (BlackRock).

### What does IUSB track?

IUSB tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index. This fund holds more than 18,000 bonds paid in US dollars.

### How much has IUSB returned per year?

From June 2014 to October 2026, IUSB returned about 2.0% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −17.9%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.

### Is IUSB above its 200-day moving average?

On October 16, 2026, IUSB closed 1.5% below its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.

### Which strategies use IUSB?

None of Tactfolio's classic strategies hold IUSB yet. You can test it in your own rules in the builder.

## Sources

- [iShares (BlackRock): iShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF fund page](https://www.ishares.com/us/products/264615/ishares-core-universal-usd-bond-etf)

> Not financial advice. Tactfolio is a research and automation tool. It is not a broker or a financial adviser. This page is for education only. Backtests are hypothetical. They show how rules would have done on past prices, not how they will do. All investing involves risk, including losing the money you put in.