What is a bond ETF?
Bond ETFs exclusively track and trade bonds, bond indexes or other fixed-income investments in various categories. When you buy a bond ETF, you're purchasing a share of the fund and receiving a portion of that fund's returns.
Best bond ETFs by one-year performance
Here are the best-performing U.S. bond ETFs ranked by one-year performance. This list excludes actively managed and leveraged ETFs, as these tend to have higher expense ratios and risk profiles.
Remember, when researching a bond ETF, you'll want to also investigate its liquidity, maturity and tradability in addition to the interest rate it offers.
The best-performing U.S. bond ETF by one-year return is iShares Convertible Bond ETF (ICVT), which is up 23.50%. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ticker | Company | Performance (Year) | ||
ICVT | iShares Convertible Bond ETF | 23.50% | ||
CWB | State Street SPDR Bloomberg Convertible Securities ETF | 20.71% | ||
RVNU | Xtrackers Municipal Infrastructure Revenue Bond ETF | 4.37% | ||
PWZ | Invesco California AMT-Free Municipal Bond ETF | 3.53% | ||
MLN | VanEck Long Muni ETF | 3.49% | ||
LMUB | iShares Long-Term National Muni Bond ETF | 3.08% | ||
Source: Finviz. Data is current as of August 3, 2026, and is intended for informational purposes only. | ||||
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Advantages of bond ETFs
ETFs are touted for a simple reason: easy and affordable diversification. Building out your portfolio by individually picking stocks or bonds can be risky and expensive. For instance, while a single U.S. Treasury bond sells for $100, a single municipal bond can cost a minimum of $5,000. The minimum investment for a bond ETF, however, is the share price, which can be much more affordable.
Bond ETFs can be purchased through most online brokers and may contain hundreds of bonds, instantly spreading your risk across many investments. Here are some other essential characteristics of bond ETFs:
- Liquidity: Bond ETFs are liquid, meaning they can be bought or sold at any time without negatively impacting the price. On the other hand, individual bonds vary in how easily they can be bought and sold. Long-term treasuries, for example, are attractive for their high yields. However, they can also be less liquid than a bond ETF if you were to try to sell in a pinch.
- Maturity: Bond ETFs maintain constant maturity. In contrast, individual bonds mature on a specific date. Since a bond ETF is a "basket" of bonds that mature at various dates, the bond ETF calculates prices by using the average maturity at any given point in time.
- Tradability: Bond ETFs are easily tradable through any brokerage account that offers them. Some individual bonds have more complex sale processes.
How to buy bond ETFs
- If you don’t already have a brokerage account, you'll want to open one.
- Compare ETFs using free screening tools (often available through your brokerage account).
- Weigh characteristics such as expense ratios, volume, holdings, performance and trading prices.
- Once you’ve found an ETF, place the trade.
» Looking for bond index funds? Check out some of the best bond index funds for beginners
Neither the author nor editor held positions in the aforementioned investments at the time of publication.
Article sources
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- 1.Treasury Direct. Treasury Bonds. Accessed Mar 27, 2026.
- 2.MSRB. How Are Municipal Bonds Quoted and Priced?. Accessed Mar 27, 2026.
