IBDR and BSCS are defined-maturity corporate bond ETFs that terminate in 2026 and 2028, locking in yields near 5% for laddered investors. IBTL holds 99% Treasuries maturing in 2031, eliminates credit risk, and delivers state-tax-exempt income that boosts after-tax yields in high-tax states. Don't wait: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just revealed his top 10 AI stocks.
See the full list FREE now. Defined-maturity bond ETFs sit in an odd corner of the fixed income world. They trade like ETFs, but they terminate on a fixed date and return cash to holders, behaving more like a single bond than a perpetual fund.
Three of them stand out for investors trying to pin down yields for the rest of the decade: iShares iBonds Dec 2026 Term Corporate ETF (NYSEARCA:IBDR), Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF (NASDAQ:BSCS), and iShares iBonds Dec 2031 Term Treasury ETF (NASDAQ:IBTL). None of these funds are household names. Together they let an investor build a ladder from late 2026 out to the end of the decade, capturing yields that in longer maturities sit near 5.25% on the Treasury curve.
The Federal Funds upper bound is 3.75%, and the national average 12-month CD sits at 1.68%, which frames why locking in a bond ladder now carries appeal. A conventional bond ETF never matures. Rising rates can dent its price permanently, and the yield an investor sees today drifts as the manager buys and sells to keep duration constant.
A defined-maturity fund holds bonds that all come due in the same calendar year, then liquidates and distributes the remaining cash. The yield-to-maturity quoted at purchase is roughly what an investor collects if the fund is held to term, minus expenses and any defaults. The construct removes the guesswork about where rates go next.
The current backdrop matters for the yield story. The 10-year Treasury yield is 4.72%, sitting in the 99th percentile of its 12-month range. The 5-year sits at 4.39%, and the 20-year at 5.25%.
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