UST vs. IEF

Last updated Apr 1, 2026

Compare and contrast key facts about ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury (UST) and iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF).

UST and IEF are both exchange-traded funds (ETFs), meaning they are traded on stock exchanges and can be bought and sold throughout the day. UST is a passively managed fund by ProShares that tracks the performance of the Barclays Capital U.S. 7-10 Year Treasury Index (200%). It was launched on Jan 19, 2010. IEF is a passively managed fund by iShares that tracks the performance of the Barclays Capital U.S. 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Index. It was launched on Jul 26, 2002. Both UST and IEF are passive ETFs, meaning that they are not actively managed but aim to replicate the performance of the underlying index as closely as possible.

Performance

UST vs. IEF - Performance Comparison

The chart below illustrates the hypothetical performance of a $10,000 investment in ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury (UST) and iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF). The values are adjusted to include any dividend payments, if applicable.

UST vs. IEF - Yearly Performance Comparison

	2026 (YTD)	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
UST ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury	-1.20%	10.26%	-6.19%	0.16%	-30.19%	-7.81%	18.83%	13.34%	-1.09%	3.21%
IEF iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	-0.14%	8.03%	-0.63%	3.64%	-15.15%	-3.33%	10.01%	8.03%	0.99%	2.55%

Returns By Period

In the year-to-date period, UST achieves a -1.20% return, which is significantly lower than IEF's -0.14% return. Over the past 10 years, UST has underperformed IEF with an annualized return of -1.81%, while IEF has yielded a comparatively higher 0.78% annualized return.

UST

• 1D: 0.28%
• 1M: -4.94%
• YTD: -1.20%
• 6M: -0.56%
• 1Y: 3.14%
• 3Y*: -1.11%
• 5Y*: -5.94%
• 10Y*: -1.81%

IEF

• 1D: 0.18%
• 1M: -2.32%
• YTD: -0.14%
• 6M: 0.79%
• 1Y: 3.95%
• 3Y*: 2.25%
• 5Y*: -0.76%
• 10Y*: 0.78%

*Multi-year figures are annualized to reflect compound growth (CAGR)

UST vs. IEF - Expense Ratio Comparison

UST has a 0.95% expense ratio, which is higher than IEF's 0.15% expense ratio.

UST

ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury

IEF

iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF

Return for Risk

UST vs. IEF — Risk / Return Rank

Compare risk-adjusted metric ranks to identify better-performing investments over the past 12 months.

UST

UST Risk / Return Rank: 20
UST Sharpe Ratio Rank: 20
UST Sortino Ratio Rank: 19
UST Omega Ratio Rank: 18
UST Calmar Ratio Rank: 23
UST Martin Ratio Rank: 20

IEF

IEF Risk / Return Rank: 43
IEF Sharpe Ratio Rank: 43
IEF Sortino Ratio Rank: 42
IEF Omega Ratio Rank: 34
IEF Calmar Ratio Rank: 57
IEF Martin Ratio Rank: 38

The rank (0–100) shows how this investment's returns compare to the risk taken. Higher = better. Based on the past 12 months of data, combining Sharpe, Sortino, and other metrics used by quantitative funds and institutional investors.

UST vs. IEF - Risk-Adjusted Trends Comparison

This table presents a comparison of risk-adjusted performance metrics for ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury (UST) and iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF). Risk-adjusted metrics are performance indicators that assess an investment's returns in relation to its risk, enabling a more accurate comparison of different investment options.

	UST	IEF	Difference
Sharpe ratio Return per unit of total volatility	0.28	0.74	-0.46
Sortino ratio Return per unit of downside risk	0.46	1.09	-0.63
Omega ratio Gain probability vs. loss probability	1.06	1.13	-0.07
Calmar ratio Return relative to maximum drawdown	0.44	1.32	-0.89
Martin ratio Return relative to average drawdown	1.00	3.31	-2.31
Data is calculated on a 1-year rolling basis and updated daily. The trend shows the change in the indicator over the past month.

UST vs. IEF - Sharpe Ratio Comparison

The current UST Sharpe Ratio is 0.28, which is lower than the IEF Sharpe Ratio of 0.74. The chart below compares the historical Sharpe Ratios of UST and IEF, offering insights into how both investments have performed under varying market conditions. These values are calculated using daily returns over the previous 12 months.

Sharpe Ratios by Period

	UST	IEF	Difference
Sharpe Ratio (1Y) Calculated over the trailing 1-year period	0.28	0.74	-0.46
Sharpe Ratio (5Y) Calculated over the trailing 5-year period	-0.39	-0.10	-0.29
Sharpe Ratio (10Y) Calculated over the trailing 10-year period	-0.14	0.12	-0.26
Sharpe Ratio (All Time) Calculated using the full available price history	0.20	0.51	-0.30

Correlation

The correlation between UST and IEF is 0.97, which is considered to be high. That indicates a strong positive relationship between their price movements. Having highly-correlated positions in a portfolio may signal a lack of diversification, potentially leading to increased risk during market downturns.

Dividends

UST vs. IEF - Dividend Comparison

UST's dividend yield for the trailing twelve months is around 3.43%, less than IEF's 3.82% yield.

	TTM	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
UST ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury	3.43%	3.65%	4.09%	3.49%	0.47%	0.27%	0.53%	1.42%	1.71%	0.84%	0.64%	0.75%
IEF iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	3.82%	3.77%	3.62%	2.91%	1.96%	0.83%	1.08%	2.08%	2.24%	1.82%	1.81%	1.90%

Drawdowns

UST vs. IEF - Drawdown Comparison

The maximum UST drawdown since its inception was -47.99%, which is greater than IEF's maximum drawdown of -23.93%. Use the drawdown chart below to compare losses from any high point for UST and IEF.

Drawdown Indicators

	UST	IEF	Difference
Max Drawdown Largest peak-to-trough decline	-47.99%	-23.93%	-24.06%
Max Drawdown (1Y) Largest decline over 1 year	-8.44%	-3.22%	-5.22%
Max Drawdown (5Y) Largest decline over 5 years	-43.97%	-21.40%	-22.57%
Max Drawdown (10Y) Largest decline over 10 years	-47.99%	-23.93%	-24.06%
Current Drawdown Current decline from peak	-37.26%	-10.88%	-26.38%
Average Drawdown Average peak-to-trough decline	-14.88%	-5.30%	-9.58%
Ulcer Index Depth and duration of drawdowns from previous peaks	3.68%	1.28%	+2.40%

Volatility

UST vs. IEF - Volatility Comparison

ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury (UST) has a higher volatility of 3.75% compared to iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) at 1.91%. This indicates that UST's price experiences larger fluctuations and is considered to be riskier than IEF based on this measure. The chart below showcases a comparison of their rolling one-month volatility.

Volatility by Period

	UST	IEF	Difference
Volatility (1M) Calculated over the trailing 1-month period	3.75%	1.91%	+1.84%
Volatility (6M) Calculated over the trailing 6-month period	6.39%	3.22%	+3.17%
Volatility (1Y) Calculated over the trailing 1-year period	11.29%	5.35%	+5.94%
Volatility (5Y) Calculated over the trailing 5-year period, annualized	15.46%	7.70%	+7.76%
Volatility (10Y) Calculated over the trailing 10-year period, annualized	13.19%	6.63%	+6.56%