What Is TLT? iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF
Last updated August 2026
Short answer
TLT is iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, an ETF that tracks ICE US Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index at a 0.15% expense ratio. Holds US Treasury bonds maturing in 20 years or more, so its price swings sharply as long-term interest rates move: up when yields fall, down when they rise. It is used as a duration and recession hedge rather than a stable cash holding. Fee is 0.15%.
TLT is issued by iShares and tracks ICE US Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index. It charges a 0.15% expense ratio, holds approximately ~$42.9 billion in assets under management, yields about ~4.55%, and launched in July 2002.
What is TLT?
TLT is iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, an ETF that tracks ICE US Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index at a 0.15% expense ratio. Holds US Treasury bonds maturing in 20 years or more, so its price swings sharply as long-term interest rates move: up when yields fall, down when they rise. It is used as a duration and recession hedge rather than a stable cash holding. Fee is 0.15%.
TLT is issued by iShares and tracks ICE US Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index, so a single ticker gives you the whole portfolio of underlying holdings weighted by the index's methodology rather than by any active stock-picking.
What does TLT hold?
TLT does not hold a basket of individual stocks. It gets its exposure synthetically, through derivatives such as swaps and futures rather than by owning the underlying shares, so there is no conventional top-10 equity holdings list. See the description above for what TLT actually tracks and how that exposure is built.
How do I invest in TLT?
There are three common ways to get TLT exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) of TLT directly at any major broker that lists it. Hold it as a core position and layer more concentrated ideas on top. Or build it into a thematic portfolio in Walnut, so TLT sits alongside other holdings that express the same thesis, with target weights you can rebalance toward. TLT trades like a stock during market hours, so you buy it the same way you would any listed share.
New to buying funds? See how to buy an ETF, step by step.
Is TLT a good buy?
Whether TLT is a good buy depends less on any single call and more on your time horizon and what you already hold: it tracks ICE US Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index, so the real question is whether you want that exposure in your mix and at what weight. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is TLT a buy?
The bottom line on TLT
TLT gives you ICE US Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index exposure in one ticker at a 0.15% expense ratio. Most investors use it as a core holding and layer more concentrated thematic portfolios on top.
More on TLT
Whether TLT 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 TLT a buy?
TLT yields ~4.55% 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 TLT dividend: yield and schedule.
TLT holds only long-dated (20+ year) Treasuries, so it is far more sensitive to interest rates than BND, which spreads across the whole investment-grade market at shorter average maturity. TLT is a concentrated rate and recession bet; BND is a diversified, steadier core bond holding. Read the full side-by-side in TLT vs BND.
New to funds like TLT? Start with what an ETF is, then how to buy an ETF, or browse the full guide to ETF investing.
Wondering how TLT fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in TLT with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how TLT fits what you actually hold: what it overlaps with, what it leaves you exposed to, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is TLT's ticker symbol?
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TLT, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF. Issued by iShares; tracks ICE US Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index. Trades during US market hours, available at every major US brokerage.
What is TLT's expense ratio?
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0.15% as of mid-2026.
What are TLT's top holdings?
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Top holdings as of mid-2026: and others. See the full holdings table above.
How can I invest in TLT through Walnut?
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Walnut isn't a broker. Connect a brokerage and Walnut sits on top to help you build and track thematic portfolios. TLT can be a constituent alongside individual stocks.
How do I compare TLT to similar ETFs?
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Put a few fields side by side: the expense ratio (fees compound over decades), the index or strategy it tracks, the top holdings and how much they overlap with what you already own, the dividend yield, and the AUM, liquidity, and bid-ask spread that affect trading costs. For index funds, tracking error (how closely it follows its index) and tax efficiency matter too. TLT's figures are above; the full method is in Walnut's guide on how to compare ETFs.
Guides that feature TLT
TLT is one of the names covered in these guides. Each one puts the fund next to its peers so you can see where it fits rather than judging it alone.
Related ETFs
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Holdings weights and fund statistics on this page are approximations stamped to mid-2026; verify current figures against iShares's fund page or your broker before investing.