SPY vs TIP: Correlation
How closely do SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP) trade together? Their weekly returns over three years give a correlation of 0.18, which is weak.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are SPY and TIP?
Over the past 3 years, SPY and TIP moved with a correlation of 0.18, which is weak. Lately the two have moved closer together, with the 1-year correlation at 0.34 versus 0.18 over 3 years. Over 5 years the correlation is 0.29, and the annualized covariance of weekly returns is 11.2 %².
Among the 4755 assets we track against SPY, TIP ranks #3491 by 3-year correlation. Correlation aside, the last 12 months split them widely, with SPY ahead by 19.2 points (+20.6% versus +1.4%). This link changes with the market regime, having swung between -0.28 and 0.59 on a rolling one-year basis. Note the risk asymmetry: SPY runs 3.3 times the annualized volatility of the other leg, so equal-weighting the two is not an equal-risk position.
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.
SPY vs TIP: side by side
| SPY (SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust) | TIP (iShares TIPS Bond ETF) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +20.6% | +1.4% |
| 5-year return | +82.4% | +1.2% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 14.5% | 4.4% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 1.00 | 0.05 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -18.8% | -3.7% |
| Dividend yield | 1.01% | 4.47% |
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.18% |
| Assets under management | $795.3B | $14.6B |
| Sector / category | ETF · US Large Cap | ETF · Bonds |
SPY, State Street Investment Management's Large Blend fund, carries $795.3B under management, 504 holdings, a 0.09% expense ratio, a 1.01% trailing dividend yield. 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 | SPY | TIP |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -18.2% | -12.3% |
| 2023 | +26.2% | +3.8% |
| 2024 | +24.9% | +1.7% |
| 2025 | +17.7% | +6.8% |
| 2026 | +13.7% | +1.1% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are SPY and TIP good diversifiers for each other?
Yes. With a correlation of 0.18, SPY and TIP have moved largely independently, which makes them a genuinely diversifying pair by historical standards.
FAQ
What is the correlation between SPY and TIP?
The SPY/TIP correlation stands at 0.18 on a 3-year window (1 year: 0.34, 5 years: 0.29), computed from weekly returns as of 2026-08-27.
Is TIP a good diversifier for SPY?
Yes. With a correlation of 0.18, SPY and TIP have moved largely independently, which makes them a genuinely diversifying pair by historical standards.
What does a correlation of 0.18 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.18 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/spy-vs-tip.json
Drop this badge in a README or notebook; it updates with the data:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/spy-vs-tip/)
Free with attribution; caching and terms are described in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: SPY correlations · TIP correlations
