AFB vs TIP: Correlation
How closely do AllianceBernstein National Municipal Income Fund Inc (AFB) and iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP) trade together? Their weekly returns over three years give a correlation of 0.66, which is strong.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are AFB and TIP?
Over the past 3 years, AFB and TIP moved with a correlation of 0.66, which is strong. Lately the two have drifted apart, with the 1-year correlation at 0.54 versus 0.66 over 3 years. Over 5 years the correlation is 0.48, and the annualized covariance of weekly returns is 36.1 %².
Among the 24 assets we track against AFB, TIP ranks #16 by 3-year correlation. Over the last 12 months AFB came out ahead by 9.1 percentage points (+10.5% against +1.4%). Risk is not evenly split, since AFB carries 2.9 times the volatility of the other side.
How is this computed?
Pearson correlation on weekly returns: ρ(A,B) = cov(rA, rB) / (σA · σB), over windows of 52, 156 and 260 weeks. Covariance is annualized (×52) and expressed in %². Full definitions on the methodology page.
AFB vs TIP: side by side
| AFB (AllianceBernstein National Municipal Income Fund Inc) | TIP (iShares TIPS Bond ETF) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +10.5% | +1.4% |
| 5-year return | -9.9% | +1.2% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 12.6% | 4.4% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.26 | 0.05 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -15.1% | -3.7% |
| Market cap | – | – |
| P/E (trailing) | 13.6 | – |
| Dividend yield | 4.97% | 4.47% |
| Expense ratio | – | 0.18% |
| Assets under management | – | $14.6B |
| Sector / category | US Listed | ETF · Bonds |
TIP is an Inflation-Protected Bond fund from iShares: $14.6B under management, a 0.18% expense ratio, a 4.47% trailing dividend yield.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | AFB | TIP |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -25.9% | -12.3% |
| 2023 | +7.5% | +3.8% |
| 2024 | +4.1% | +1.7% |
| 2025 | +4.4% | +6.8% |
| 2026 | +4.6% | +1.1% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are AFB and TIP good diversifiers for each other?
To a limited degree. At 0.66 the two still catch most of the same waves, so the pair smooths returns a little without insulating either from a shared selloff.
FAQ
What is the correlation between AFB and TIP?
Using weekly returns as of 2026-08-27: 0.66 over 3 years, with 0.54 over the last year and 0.48 over 5 years.
Is TIP a good diversifier for AFB?
To a limited degree. At 0.66 the two still catch most of the same waves, so the pair smooths returns a little without insulating either from a shared selloff.
What does a correlation of 0.66 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.66 describes how much the two returns move together: +1 is lockstep, 0 is independence, negative values mean opposite directions. It says nothing about which performed better.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/afb-vs-tip.json
Drop this badge in a README or notebook; it updates with the data:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/afb-vs-tip/)
Free with attribution; caching and terms are described in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: AFB correlations · TIP correlations
