TLT has returned -2.2% per year over the past 10 years on a total-return basis with dividends reinvested, turning $10,000 into about $8,043. Its low 0.15% fee is deducted from that return. Its price-only return was lower, near -4.9%, because reinvested distributions do much of the compounding.
- Total returns assume dividends reinvested at each ex-date
- net of the 0.15% expense ratio
- Total holdings
- 47
- Top 10 weight
- 41.0%
- Sectors
- —
- Largest position
- 4.54%
- Median mkt cap
- —
Growth of $10,000
If you had invested $10,000 and reinvested every dividend
Performance & returns
annualized for periods over 1 year
| Period | Price return | Total return | vs S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| YTD | -6.8% | -3.9% | -16.20% |
| 1 year | -8.9% | -4.7% | -21.00% |
| 3 year | -4.6% | -0.4% | -21.55% |
| 5 year | -11.7% | -8.5% | -21.85% |
| 10 year | -4.9% | -2.2% | -17.51% |
| Since inception | -0.0% | +3.5% | — |
Risk & volatility
10-year
- Max drawdownpeak-to-trough decline-48.3%
- Sharpe ratiovs 3.5% risk-free-0.38
- Best year2020+18.2%
- Worst year2022-31.2%
Calendar-year total returns
dividends reinvested
TLT return calculator
Total return, reinvestedUses TLT's -2.2% historical annual total return. Past performance does not predict future results.
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Get The Add-in - FreeTLT frequently asked questions
TLT has returned about -2.2% per year over the past 10 years on a total-return basis with dividends reinvested. Since its 2002 inception it has returned roughly 3.5% a year. That figure is after the fund's 0.15% expense ratio, which is deducted from returns.
$10,000 invested in TLT 10 years ago would be worth about $8,043 today with dividends reinvested, versus roughly $41,718 in the S&P 500 (SPY) over the same period. Your exact result depends on the entry date, but the growth-of-$10,000 chart above shows the full path including drawdowns along the way.
Over the past 10 years it returned -2.2% a year against the S&P 500 (SPY)'s 15.4%, behind by 17.5 points a year. Over the past 5 years it returned -8.5% a year against the S&P 500 (SPY)'s 13.4%, behind by 21.9 points a year. Compare total returns over several windows rather than treating a single year as the verdict.
Price return counts only the change in share price; total return adds reinvested dividends. Over 10 years TLT's total return of about -2.2% annually is higher than its price-only return of roughly -4.9%, because reinvested distributions compound over time. Total return is the number that reflects what an investor actually earned, which is why it is shown as the headline figure on this page.