IEF vs QQQ: Correlation
iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) show a near-zero relationship: their 3-year correlation of weekly returns is 0.05.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are IEF and QQQ?
Across a 3-year window, the weekly returns of IEF and QQQ correlate at 0.05, near zero, meaning they move largely independently. The past 12 months show a tighter link (0.24) than the 3-year average (0.05). Stretching to 5 years gives 0.14, with an annualized covariance of 6.1 %².
Within IEF's tracked universe of 48 assets, QQQ comes in at #19 by 3-year correlation. Their recent paths diverged sharply: over the last 12 months QQQ outperformed by 25.4 percentage points (+0.9% for IEF against +26.3% for QQQ). Do not treat this figure as fixed: across three years the rolling one-year correlation ranged all the way from -0.47 to 0.48. Risk is not evenly split, since QQQ carries 3.0 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.
IEF vs QQQ: side by side
| IEF (iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF) | QQQ (Invesco QQQ Trust) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +0.9% | +26.3% |
| 5-year return | -7.9% | +95.4% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 6.5% | 19.6% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.04 | 1.28 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -6.9% | -22.8% |
| Dividend yield | 3.96% | 0.44% |
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.18% |
| Assets under management | $47.2B | $452.8B |
| Sector / category | ETF · Bonds | ETF · US Growth & Tech |
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. QQQ is a Large Growth fund from Invesco: $452.8B under management, 104 holdings, a 0.18% expense ratio, a 0.44% trailing dividend yield.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | IEF | QQQ |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -15.2% | -32.6% |
| 2023 | +3.6% | +54.9% |
| 2024 | -0.6% | +25.6% |
| 2025 | +8.0% | +20.8% |
| 2026 | -0.8% | +17.7% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are IEF and QQQ good diversifiers for each other?
Yes. With a correlation of 0.05, IEF and QQQ have moved largely independently, which makes them a genuinely diversifying pair by historical standards.
FAQ
What is the correlation between IEF and QQQ?
The IEF/QQQ correlation stands at 0.05 on a 3-year window (1 year: 0.24, 5 years: 0.14), computed from weekly returns as of 2026-08-27.
Is QQQ a good diversifier for IEF?
Yes. With a correlation of 0.05, IEF and QQQ have moved largely independently, which makes them a genuinely diversifying pair by historical standards.
What does a correlation of 0.05 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.05 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-qqq.json
Embed this badge (it refreshes with the data), with attribution:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/ief-vs-qqq/)
No key needed, free to use. Full endpoint list in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: IEF correlations · QQQ correlations
