iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY)
$81.36+0.09%close of Oct 16, 2026
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by iShares (BlackRock). This fund holds US government bonds that will be paid back in 1 to 3 years. It charges 0.15% a year. From July 2002 to October 2026 it returned about 2.0% a year, and its worst drop was −5.7%.
Written by the Tactfolio research team. Fund facts checked October 16, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.
- Yearly fee
- 0.15%
- about $15 on $10,000
- 1-year return
- 1.5%
- to Oct 16, 2026
- Return per year
- 2.0%
- since July 2002
- Worst drop
- −5.7%
- since 2002
- Below its high
- −0.3%
- now
- Volatility
- 1.5%
- yearly swings
- Issuer
- iShares (BlackRock)
- Tracks
- ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index
- Started trading
- July 22, 2002
- Type
- US bonds, ETF
- Holdings
- 90 holdings as of October 15, 2026
- Expense ratio
- 0.15% a year
How has SHY done since 2002?#
From July 2002 to October 2026, SHY returned about 2.0% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 11.2% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $16,041 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.
| Period | SHY | S&P 500 (SPY) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 month | 0.4% | 1.5% |
| 3 months | 0.1% | 1.9% |
| 6 months | 0.4% | 9.3% |
| Year to date | 0.9% | 12.8% |
| 1 year | 1.5% | 16.8% |
| 3 years per year | 4.0% | 22.0% |
| 5 years per year | 1.9% | 12.8% |
| 10 years per year | 1.7% | 15.4% |
| Since 2002 per year | 2.0% | 11.2% |
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.
SHY returns by month and year#
SHY rose in 194 of its 292 months (66%). Its best month was November 2007, at 1.8%. Its worst was March 2022, at −1.4%.
| Year | Total | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 0.9% | 0.2 | 0.5 | −0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | −0.5 | 0.5 | ||
| 2025 | 5.0% | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.8 | −0.2 | 0.6 | −0.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| 2024 | 3.9% | 0.3 | −0.4 | 0.3 | −0.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.8 | −0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| 2023 | 4.2% | 0.8 | −0.8 | 1.7 | 0.2 | −0.4 | −0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | −0.1 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| 2022 | −3.9% | −0.7 | −0.4 | −1.4 | −0.5 | 0.6 | −0.6 | 0.4 | −0.8 | −1.2 | −0.1 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| 2021 | −0.7% | 0.0 | −0.1 | −0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | −0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | −0.1 | −0.3 | −0.1 | −0.2 |
| 2020 | 3.0% | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.3 | −0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2019 | 3.4% | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.5 | −0.1 | 0.8 | −0.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| 2018 | 1.5% | −0.3 | −0.1 | 0.3 | −0.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | −0.1 | 0.4 | −0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| 2017 | 0.3% | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | −0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | −0.2 | −0.1 | −0.2 | 0.0 |
| 2016 | 0.8% | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | −0.1 | 0.6 | 0.0 | −0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | −0.5 | 0.1 |
| 2015 | 0.4% | 0.6 | −0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | −0.1 | −0.3 | −0.1 |
| 2014 | 0.4% | 0.2 | 0.0 | −0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | −0.1 | −0.1 | 0.2 | −0.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | −0.3 |
| 2013 | 0.2% | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | −0.1 | −0.1 | 0.2 | −0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | −0.2 |
| 2012 | 0.3% | 0.1 | −0.1 | −0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | −0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | −0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2011 | 1.4% | 0.1 | −0.1 | −0.1 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | −0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| 2010 | 2.3% | 0.8 | 0.2 | −0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | −0.2 | −0.2 |
| 2009 | 0.4% | −0.4 | −0.1 | 0.5 | −0.2 | 0.1 | −0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.6 | −0.8 |
| 2008 | 6.6% | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | −0.8 | −0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.6 |
| 2007 | 7.3% | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | −0.1 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 0.3 |
| 2006 | 3.9% | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| 2005 | 1.5% | 0.0 | −0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | −0.4 | 0.7 | −0.3 | −0.1 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| 2004 | 0.7% | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.3 | −1.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | −0.1 | 0.3 | −0.6 | 0.2 |
| 2003 | 2.2% | −0.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | −0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | −0.4 | −0.1 | 1.1 |
| 2002 | 2.4% | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | −0.4 | 1.1 |
Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.
How risky is SHY compared with the S&P 500?#
Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.
- Beta 0.01. When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, SHY tended to move about 0.01%.
- Correlation 0.10. SHY moved mostly on its own, apart from the S&P 500.
- Up and down months. In months the S&P 500 rose, SHY rose 9% as much on average. In months it fell, SHY fell 5% as much.
| Measure | SHY | S&P 500 (SPY) |
|---|---|---|
| Return per year | 1.9% | 12.8% |
| Volatility | 2.0% | 17.1% |
| Worst drop | −5.4% | −24.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.94 | 0.79 |
| Sortino ratio | 1.44 | 1.15 |
| Calmar ratio | 0.35 | 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 SHY above its 200-day average?#
SHY closed 0.4% above its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds SHY only above that average would hold it today.
- vs 200-day average
- +0.4%
- above it
- 50-day vs 200-day
- +0.3%
- trend rising
- vs 52-week high
- −0.3%
- high of $81.59
A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as the 10-month moving average strategy hold a fund only while it is above one. You can build that rule for SHY and backtest it in a minute.
What was SHY’s worst drop?#
A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. SHY’s worst fall was −5.7%, from August 3, 2021 to October 20, 2022. It got back to that high on June 3, 2024. On October 16, 2026 it was 0.3% below its highest close.
| Drop | From the high | To the bottom | Back to the high |
|---|---|---|---|
| −5.7% | Aug 3, 2021 | Oct 20, 202215 months | Jun 3, 202419 months |
Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.
What does SHY hold?#
This fund holds US government bonds that will be paid back in 1 to 3 years. Because the bonds are paid back soon, the fund’s price usually moves less than funds with longer bonds. It pays out interest income each month.
It tracks the ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index. It had 90 holdings as of October 15, 2026, according to iShares (BlackRock).
What is the SHY expense ratio?#
SHY charges 0.15% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.15% fee comes to about $15 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 42% 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 SHY?#
8 classic strategies hold SHY at least some of the time. Each is a set of written rules you can open, test and copy.
- Vigilant Asset Allocation (VAA), by Wouter Keller and JW Keuning, 2017
- Defensive Asset Allocation (DAA), by Wouter Keller and JW Keuning, 2018
- Protective Asset Allocation (PAA), by Wouter Keller and JW Keuning, 2016
- Vigilant Asset Allocation G12 (VAA-G12), by Wouter Keller and JW Keuning, 2017
- Paul Novell’s Tactical Bond Strategy, by Paul Novell, 2014
- Golden Butterfly Portfolio, by Tyler (Portfolio Charts), 2015
- Lethargic Asset Allocation (Keller’s LAA), by Wouter J. Keller, 2019
- Bond UI1 (Paul Novell’s unemployment bond strategy), by Paul Novell, 2019
How does SHY compare with similar ETFs?#
Funds that can stand in for SHY:
- VGSH: Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF, 0.03% a year
- SGOV: iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF, 0.09% a year
- BIL: State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF, 0.1353% a year
- SHV: iShares 0-1 Year Treasury Bond ETF, 0.15% a year
See all 8 SHY alternatives, compared on the same dates as SHY.
Test SHY 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, add SHY, 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 SHY 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 16, 2026. Read what a backtest simulates and how to read drawdown and CAGR for more on these measures.
Common questions#
What is the expense ratio of SHY?#
SHY charges 0.15% a year, according to iShares (BlackRock) as of October 16, 2026. That is about $15 a year for every $10,000 you hold.
When did SHY start trading?#
SHY started trading on July 22, 2002. It is run by iShares (BlackRock).
What does SHY track?#
SHY tracks the ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index. This fund holds US government bonds that will be paid back in 1 to 3 years.
How much has SHY returned per year?#
From July 2002 to October 2026, SHY returned about 2.0% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −5.7%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.
Is SHY above its 200-day moving average?#
On October 16, 2026, SHY closed 0.4% above its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.
Which strategies use SHY?#
8 of Tactfolio’s classic strategies hold SHY, including Vigilant Asset Allocation (VAA), Defensive Asset Allocation (DAA), Protective Asset Allocation (PAA).