What Is IEF? iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF

IEF is the iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF, issued by BlackRock. It tracks the ICE US Treasury 7-10 Year Bond Index, a benchmark of US Treasury notes with remaining maturities between seven and ten years. In a single ticker, it packages intermediate-term US government bond exposure that would otherwise require buying and rolling individual Treasury notes.

Launched in July 2002, IEF is one of the oldest and largest Treasury bond ETFs, with roughly $48 billion in assets in mid-2026. It charges a 0.15% expense ratio and pays income monthly, with a 30-day SEC yield around 4.1%. Traders frequently treat it as a liquid proxy for the belly of the Treasury curve.

Approximate weights as of mid-2026; refresh quarterly from BlackRock (iShares)'s fund page. Each ticker links to its individual stock guide in Walnut.

IEF holds a focused basket of US Treasury notes, typically around 15 to 20 individual issues, all with seven to ten years left to maturity, plus a small cash sleeve. As bonds age out of that maturity band the fund sells them and buys newer notes, keeping the weighted average maturity near 8.5 years and the effective duration around 7 years.

Because every holding is a direct obligation of the US government, credit risk is negligible. There are no company names, sectors, or dividends from equities here: the return comes from Treasury coupon income plus price changes driven by movements in intermediate-term interest rates.

The clearest contrast is with TLT, the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF. TLT holds much longer bonds and has a far higher duration, so it swings more dramatically when long-term rates move. IEF is the more moderate, intermediate-term choice, with meaningful but less extreme rate sensitivity.

On the shorter side, IEI (iShares 3-7 Year Treasury) has less duration and smaller price swings than IEF. VGIT, Vanguard's intermediate-term Treasury ETF, overlaps heavily with IEF and charges a slightly lower fee, while GOVT spreads across the entire Treasury maturity curve. Which one fits depends on how much interest-rate exposure you want.

Walnut is not an investment adviser, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell IEF. What we can describe is its profile: a low-cost, highly liquid fund holding intermediate US Treasuries, with minimal credit risk and meaningful interest-rate risk. Investors often use it as a core bond allocation or as ballast intended to offset equity volatility.

Whether that role suits you depends on your time horizon, income needs, tax situation, and the rest of your portfolio. Someone seeking stability and diversification may view IEF differently than someone focused on maximizing yield or minimizing rate risk. Consider speaking with a licensed financial professional before deciding.

The single most important thing to understand about IEF is duration. With an effective duration near 7 years, a 1 percentage point rise in intermediate interest rates would be expected to push IEF's price down by roughly 7%, while a 1 point fall would push it up by a similar amount. That sensitivity is the fund's defining feature, not a footnote.

This means IEF is not a cash substitute or a guaranteed-value holding: its share price fluctuates daily with the bond market. It carries almost no credit risk because it holds Treasuries, but it is fully exposed to rate risk. Investors uncomfortable with price swings from rate moves sometimes prefer shorter-duration funds like IEI or ultra-short options.

IEF trades on the exchange like any stock, so you can buy it through Robinhood, Fidelity, Schwab, Public, or virtually any US brokerage during market hours. Many of these brokers support fractional shares, letting you invest a fixed dollar amount rather than buying whole shares, which is handy for sizing a precise bond allocation.

If you connect your brokerage to Walnut, you can track IEF next to a thematic basket and see how intermediate Treasury exposure fits your overall target weights. Walnut helps you monitor and organize your holdings; the actual trade is always placed and settled at your own broker.

IEF is a low-cost, liquid way to own intermediate US Treasuries with an effective duration near 7 years. That duration cuts both ways: it earns a Treasury yield and can rally when rates fall, but loses value when rates rise. Most investors use it as a core bond holding or ballast against stocks.

Whether IEF is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is IEF a buy?

IEF yields ~4.1% as of mid-2026, paid by passing through the dividends of its underlying holdings. For the payout schedule, history, and how the distributions are taxed, see IEF dividend: yield and schedule.