IEF vs NVG: Correlation
Measured on weekly returns over the past three years, iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) and Nuveen AMT-Free Municipal Credit Income Fund (NVG) carry a correlation of 0.67, a strong link.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are IEF and NVG?
Over the past 3 years, IEF and NVG moved with a correlation of 0.67, which is strong. Little has changed lately, as the 1-year reading of 0.60 lands near the 3-year figure. Over 5 years the correlation is 0.56, and the annualized covariance of weekly returns is 55.9 %².
By 3-year correlation, NVG places #13 of the 48 assets tracked against IEF. Over the last 12 months NVG came out ahead by 11.5 percentage points (+0.9% against +12.4%). One caveat on sizing: NVG is 2.0 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 NVG: side by side
| IEF (iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF) | NVG (Nuveen AMT-Free Municipal Credit Income Fund) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +0.9% | +12.4% |
| 5-year return | -7.9% | -7.8% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 6.5% | 13.0% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.04 | 0.32 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -6.9% | -12.9% |
| Market cap | – | $2.7B |
| P/E (trailing) | – | 13.8 |
| Dividend yield | 3.96% | 7.75% |
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | – |
| Assets under management | $47.2B | – |
| Sector / category | ETF · Bonds | US Listed |
On the fund side, IEF sits in the Long Government category at iShares, with $47.2B under management, a 0.15% expense ratio, a 3.96% trailing dividend yield.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | IEF | NVG |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -15.2% | -28.5% |
| 2023 | +3.6% | +2.0% |
| 2024 | -0.6% | +10.8% |
| 2025 | +8.0% | +11.6% |
| 2026 | -0.8% | +1.9% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are IEF and NVG good diversifiers for each other?
Only partially. A correlation of 0.67 means IEF and NVG 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 NVG?
The IEF/NVG correlation stands at 0.67 on a 3-year window (1 year: 0.60, 5 years: 0.56), computed from weekly returns as of 2026-08-27.
Is NVG a good diversifier for IEF?
Only partially. A correlation of 0.67 means IEF and NVG share most of their swings. Pairing them dampens volatility somewhat, but it will not protect against a common drawdown.
What does a correlation of 0.67 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.67 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-nvg.json
Markdown for the live badge, attribution link included:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/ief-vs-nvg/)
No key needed, free to use. Full endpoint list in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: IEF correlations · NVG correlations
