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Is iShares iBonds 1-5 Year Treasury Ladder ETF (LDRT) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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The iShares iBonds 1-5 Year Treasury Ladder ETF (LDRT - Free Report) made its debut on 11/07/2024, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Government Bond ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by Blackrock, LDRT has amassed assets over $237.43 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Government Bond ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the BLACKROCK IBONDS 1-5 YEAR TRSR LDR ID .
The BlackRock iBonds 1-5 Year Treasury Ladder Index composes of a portfolio of underlying iShares iBonds Treasury ETFs with maturities less than six years.
Cost & Other Expenses
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.07%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.78%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
When you look at individual holdings, Ishares Ibonds Dec 2027 Term Cl1 (IBTH) accounts for about 20.1% of the fund's total assets, followed by Ishares Ibonds Dec 2028 Term Cl1 (IBTI) and Ishares Ibonds Dec 2029 Term Cl1 (IBTJ).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 100% of LDRT's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about -0.25% so far this year and is up roughly 0.87% in the last one year (as of 10/02/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $24.55 and $25.57
LDRT has a beta of 0.00 and standard deviation of 2.70% for the trailing three-year period. With about 7 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers .
Alternatives
iShares iBonds 1-5 Year Treasury Ladder ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Government Bond ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury Index Fund ETF Shares (VGIT) tracks Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 3-10 Year Government Float Adjusted Index and the iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT) tracks ICE US Treasury Core Bond Index. Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury Index Fund ETF Shares has $38.74 billion in assets, iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF has $41.29 billion. VGIT has an expense ratio of 0.03% and GOVT changes 0.05%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Government Bond ETFs
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.
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Is iShares iBonds 1-5 Year Treasury Ladder ETF (LDRT) a Strong ETF Right Now?
The iShares iBonds 1-5 Year Treasury Ladder ETF (LDRT - Free Report) made its debut on 11/07/2024, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Government Bond ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by Blackrock, LDRT has amassed assets over $237.43 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Government Bond ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the BLACKROCK IBONDS 1-5 YEAR TRSR LDR ID .
The BlackRock iBonds 1-5 Year Treasury Ladder Index composes of a portfolio of underlying iShares iBonds Treasury ETFs with maturities less than six years.
Cost & Other Expenses
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.07%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.78%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
When you look at individual holdings, Ishares Ibonds Dec 2027 Term Cl1 (IBTH) accounts for about 20.1% of the fund's total assets, followed by Ishares Ibonds Dec 2028 Term Cl1 (IBTI) and Ishares Ibonds Dec 2029 Term Cl1 (IBTJ).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 100% of LDRT's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about -0.25% so far this year and is up roughly 0.87% in the last one year (as of 10/02/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $24.55 and $25.57
LDRT has a beta of 0.00 and standard deviation of 2.70% for the trailing three-year period. With about 7 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers .
Alternatives
iShares iBonds 1-5 Year Treasury Ladder ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Government Bond ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury Index Fund ETF Shares (VGIT) tracks Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 3-10 Year Government Float Adjusted Index and the iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT) tracks ICE US Treasury Core Bond Index. Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury Index Fund ETF Shares has $38.74 billion in assets, iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF has $41.29 billion. VGIT has an expense ratio of 0.03% and GOVT changes 0.05%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Government Bond ETFs
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.