IEF vs NEA: Correlation
How closely do iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) and Nuveen AMT-Free Quality Municipal Income Fund (NEA) 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 IEF and NEA?
Over the past 3 years, IEF and NEA moved with a correlation of 0.66, which is strong. The link has loosened recently: the 1-year correlation (0.54) runs below the 3-year figure (0.66). Over 5 years the correlation is 0.53, and the annualized covariance of weekly returns is 46.6 %².
Among the 48 assets we track against IEF, NEA ranks #15 by 3-year correlation. On 12-month performance NEA holds a 9.5-point edge, +0.9% against +10.4%. One caveat on sizing: NEA is 1.7 times as volatile as the other leg, so an equal-dollar split is far from equal-risk.
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.
IEF vs NEA: side by side
| IEF (iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF) | NEA (Nuveen AMT-Free Quality Municipal Income Fund) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +0.9% | +10.4% |
| 5-year return | -7.9% | -4.4% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 6.5% | 10.9% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.04 | 0.28 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -6.9% | -11.3% |
| Market cap | – | $3.4B |
| P/E (trailing) | – | 14.5 |
| Dividend yield | 3.96% | 7.70% |
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | – |
| Assets under management | $47.2B | – |
| Sector / category | ETF · Bonds | US Listed |
IEF is a Long Government fund from iShares: $47.2B under management, a 0.15% expense ratio, a 3.96% trailing dividend yield.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | IEF | NEA |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -15.2% | -23.3% |
| 2023 | +3.6% | +0.8% |
| 2024 | -0.6% | +9.5% |
| 2025 | +8.0% | +11.3% |
| 2026 | -0.8% | +1.7% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are IEF and NEA good diversifiers for each other?
Only partially. A correlation of 0.66 means IEF and NEA share most of their swings. Pairing them dampens volatility somewhat, but it will not protect against a common drawdown.
FAQ
What is the correlation between IEF and NEA?
Using weekly returns as of 2026-08-27: 0.66 over 3 years, with 0.54 over the last year and 0.53 over 5 years.
Is NEA a good diversifier for IEF?
Only partially. A correlation of 0.66 means IEF and NEA share most of their swings. Pairing them dampens volatility somewhat, but it will not protect against a common drawdown.
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/ief-vs-nea.json
Drop this badge in a README or notebook; it updates with the data:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/ief-vs-nea/)
No key needed, free to use. Full endpoint list in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: IEF correlations · NEA correlations
