NAD vs SHY: Correlation
How closely do Nuveen Quality Municipal Income Fund (NAD) and iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY) trade together? Their weekly returns over three years give a correlation of 0.52, which is moderate.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are NAD and SHY?
Over the past 3 years, NAD and SHY moved with a correlation of 0.52, which is moderate. Little has changed lately, as the 1-year reading of 0.54 lands near the 3-year figure. Over 5 years the correlation is 0.45, and the annualized covariance of weekly returns is 8.9 %².
By 3-year correlation, SHY places #21 of the 26 assets tracked against NAD. Over the last 12 months NAD came out ahead by 9.6 percentage points (+12.1% against +2.5%). One caveat on sizing: NAD is 6.9 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.
NAD vs SHY: side by side
| NAD (Nuveen Quality Municipal Income Fund) | SHY (iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +12.1% | +2.5% |
| 5-year return | -2.4% | +9.6% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 11.0% | 1.6% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.27 | 0.00 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -11.7% | -1.0% |
| Market cap | $2.7B | – |
| P/E (trailing) | 14.9 | – |
| Dividend yield | 7.38% | 3.65% |
| Expense ratio | – | 0.15% |
| Assets under management | – | $25.1B |
| Sector / category | US Listed | ETF · Bonds |
SHY, iShares's Short Government fund, carries $25.1B under management, a 0.15% expense ratio, a 3.65% trailing dividend yield.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | NAD | SHY |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -22.8% | -3.9% |
| 2023 | +1.3% | +4.2% |
| 2024 | +8.8% | +3.9% |
| 2025 | +11.4% | +5.0% |
| 2026 | +2.5% | +1.1% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are NAD and SHY good diversifiers for each other?
To a limited degree. At 0.52 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 NAD and SHY?
The NAD/SHY correlation stands at 0.52 on a 3-year window (1 year: 0.54, 5 years: 0.45), computed from weekly returns as of 2026-08-27.
Is SHY a good diversifier for NAD?
To a limited degree. At 0.52 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 0.52 mean?
A reading of 0.52 sits on a scale from −1 (opposite moves) through 0 (unrelated) to +1 (identical moves). Correlation captures direction, not magnitude or performance.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/nad-vs-shy.json
Drop this badge in a README or notebook; it updates with the data:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/nad-vs-shy/)
No key needed, free to use. Full endpoint list in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: NAD correlations · SHY correlations
