Fixed Income ETF Short Interest
Author:
Ihor Dusaniwsky
Managing Director of Predictive Analytics
The 10 Year treasury bond yield had fallen to 3.99% on April 4th from a recent high of 4.79% on January 14th, but on Monday we saw yields jump back up over the 4% threshold and are now at 4.4% levels. Fixed Income ETF short sellers have been active this year due to this volatility with most of the short side exposure residing in the top ten most shorted ETFs, 73% of the $46.9 billion of Fixed Income short interest are in the top ten most shorted ETFs.
Fixed Income ETF Short Interest
Ticker
SI % Float
Short Interest
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond
TLT US
18.77%
$9,442,219,315
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Cor
HYG US
52.18%
$8,223,017,310
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Gra
LQD US
18.98%
$5,742,923,392
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond
SHY US
9.90%
$2,272,586,056
iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emergi
EMB US
13.52%
$1,792,384,824
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bo
AGG US
1.25%
$1,544,642,301
iShares Broad USD High Yield C
USHY US
7.50%
$1,422,729,434
iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF
GOVT US
4.97%
$1,317,554,841
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bon
IEF US
3.32%
$1,173,527,353
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Cor
VCIT US
2.29%
$1,169,336,579
Invesco Senior Loan ETF
BKLN US
10.47%
$795,404,342
iShares National Muni Bond ETF
MUB US
1.99%
$774,438,853
SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond
SPHY US
8.93%
$738,569,127
SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond
JNK US
9.32%
$680,015,808
Vanguard Short-Term Corporate
VCSH US
1.46%
$500,547,350
Vanguard Long-Term Corporate B
VCLT US
3.36%
$458,234,207
Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index
VTEB US
1.23%
$439,844,472
SPDR Blackstone Senior Loan ET
SRLN US
5.98%
$430,079,132
SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bil
BIL US
0.94%
$406,999,761
SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Te
SPIB US
3.45%
$331,193,321
Total Sector
17.69%
$46,933,804,810
In 2025 we have seen Fixed Income ETF short interest increase by $8.6 billion, which consisted of $8.8 billion of increased short selling partially offset by a $192 million decrease in the mark-to-market value of ETFs shorted.
Fixed Income ETF Short Interest
Ticker
YTD Change
YTD Shares Shorted
YTD Ch MTM
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond
TLT US
$1,753,899,843
$1,556,875,711
$197,024,132
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Cor
HYG US
$1,654,565,847
$1,868,336,960
($213,771,113)
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Gra
LQD US
$826,740,412
$847,394,715
($20,654,302)
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond
SHY US
($191,368,407)
($214,224,570)
$22,856,162
iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emergi
EMB US
$169,377,927
$206,673,792
($37,295,865)
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bo
AGG US
($203,876,782)
($225,143,042)
$21,266,260
iShares Broad USD High Yield C
USHY US
$67,960,864
$118,792,311
($50,831,447)
iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF
GOVT US
$1,267,994,971
$1,266,947,544
$1,047,428
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bon
IEF US
$579,888,540
$562,006,308
$17,882,232
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Cor
VCIT US
($199,722,854)
($202,616,552)
$2,893,698
Invesco Senior Loan ETF
BKLN US
$379,903,718
$397,883,060
($17,979,342)
iShares National Muni Bond ETF
MUB US
$136,429,124
$152,951,050
($16,521,926)
SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond
SPHY US
$506,311,274
$515,514,504
($9,203,230)
SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond
JNK US
$89,521,118
$113,514,409
($23,993,291)
Vanguard Short-Term Corporate
VCSH US
$71,425,261
$69,885,020
$1,540,241
Vanguard Long-Term Corporate B
VCLT US
$116,417,018
$121,606,412
($5,189,394)
Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index
VTEB US
$131,963,843
$139,944,796
($7,980,953)
SPDR Blackstone Senior Loan ET
SRLN US
$191,372,277
$204,137,656
($12,765,379)
SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bil
BIL US
$80,935,080
$80,649,716
$285,365
SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Te
SPIB US
$269,265,799
$269,114,710
$151,089
Total Sector
$8,574,290,105
$8,766,258,983
($191,968,878)
More than a third of the full-year increased short selling we saw in Fixed Income ETFs occurred over the last thirty days. Overall short interest increased by $2.6 billion, which consisted of $3.3 billion of increased short selling partially offset by a $781 million decrease in the mark-to-market value of ETFs shorted.
Fixed Income ETF Short Interest
Ticker
30D Change
30D Shares Shorted
30D Ch MTM
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond
TLT US
($640,887,478)
($634,173,613)
($6,713,865)
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Cor
HYG US
$341,440,894
$673,766,646
($332,325,752)
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Gra
LQD US
$381,426,983
$463,591,717
($82,164,734)
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond
SHY US
$2,449,128
($6,093,509)
$8,542,637
iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emergi
EMB US
$111,979,957
$182,712,462
($70,732,505)
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bo
AGG US
$332,032,337
$333,881,768
($1,849,431)
iShares Broad USD High Yield C
USHY US
($331,170,024)
($251,253,872)
($79,916,152)
iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF
GOVT US
$636,415,899
$632,085,044
$4,330,855
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bon
IEF US
$114,297,875
$102,851,598
$11,446,277
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Cor
VCIT US
($19,940,056)
($9,265,373)
($10,674,683)
Invesco Senior Loan ETF
BKLN US
$236,135,035
$257,007,287
($20,872,252)
iShares National Muni Bond ETF
MUB US
$119,112,762
$135,063,279
($15,950,518)
SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond
SPHY US
$208,661,305
$232,676,611
($24,015,306)
SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond
JNK US
$34,047,619
$64,292,722
($30,245,103)
Vanguard Short-Term Corporate
VCSH US
$7,934,909
$9,752,898
($1,817,989)
Vanguard Long-Term Corporate B
VCLT US
($50,483,358)
($37,022,032)
($13,461,326)
Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index
VTEB US
$81,530,183
$90,260,829
($8,730,646)
SPDR Blackstone Senior Loan ET
SRLN US
$95,804,861
$110,848,416
($15,043,555)
SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bil
BIL US
$57,099,837
$57,176,310
($76,472)
SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Te
SPIB US
$45,860,888
$47,672,248
($1,811,361)
Total Sector
$2,550,657,548
$3,331,180,515
($780,522,968)
Fixed Income ETF short sellers were down for the first quarter of the year, down -$793 million in mark-to-market losses or -1.88%. But they are up +$1.33 billion in mark-to-market profits or +2.88% so far in April. Fixed Income ETF shorts are now up +$538 million in mark-to-market profits for the year, +1.27%.
Mark-To-Market P\L
Ticker
MTD MTM P\L
P\L %
YTD MTM P\L
P\L %
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond
TLT US
$296,435,338
3.18%
($121,117,505)
-1.29%
iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Cor
HYG US
$356,045,566
4.34%
$304,193,804
4.04%
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Gra
LQD US
$183,564,397
3.26%
$95,969,653
1.91%
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond
SHY US
$204,752
0.01%
($22,440,205)
-0.97%
iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emergi
EMB US
$81,372,564
4.51%
$35,414,252
1.97%
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bo
AGG US
$16,847,805
1.11%
($5,815,642)
-0.46%
iShares Broad USD High Yield C
USHY US
$63,809,203
4.54%
$59,985,726
3.34%
iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF
GOVT US
$5,947,507
0.46%
$38,049
0.01%
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bon
IEF US
$6,781,791
0.58%
($21,460,822)
-2.59%
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Cor
VCIT US
$25,429,498
2.32%
($2,484,254)
-0.19%
Invesco Senior Loan ETF
BKLN US
$20,335,360
2.50%
$28,283,531
5.98%
iShares National Muni Bond ETF
MUB US
$20,158,853
2.67%
$19,757,537
3.13%
SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond
SPHY US
$35,343,144
4.89%
$38,802,738
10.27%
SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond
JNK US
$31,381,421
4.68%
$30,753,698
5.03%
Vanguard Short-Term Corporate
VCSH US
$4,761,049
0.92%
($482,563)
-0.10%
Vanguard Long-Term Corporate B
VCLT US
$22,341,374
5.31%
$11,260,807
2.13%
Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index
VTEB US
$11,130,523
2.52%
$12,508,526
3.74%
SPDR Blackstone Senior Loan ET
SRLN US
$15,239,390
3.59%
$18,739,173
6.61%
SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bil
BIL US
$646,095
0.16%
($475,345)
-0.13%
SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Te
SPIB US
$5,055,589
1.53%
$2,967,727
1.75%
Total Sector
$1,330,943,707
2.88%
$537,846,779
1.27%
Trading Fixed Income ETFs can be used as a proxy for holding outright bonds or as a portfolio hedge against interest rate fluctuations. The recent reversal in rates has made the hedging aspect of these ETFs more attractive and we should see short selling in the corporates and short covering in the treasuries continue as rates continue to reverse their year-long downward trend.
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The information herein (some of which has been obtained from third party sources without verification) is believed by S3 Partners, LLC (“S3 Partners”) to be reliable and accurate. Neither S3 Partners nor any of its affiliates makes any representation as to the accuracy or completeness of the information herein or accepts liability arising from its use. Prior to making any decisions based on the information herein, you should determine, without reliance upon S3 Partners, the economic risks, and merits, as well as the legal, tax, accounting, and investment consequences, of such decisions.
