PIMCO2026-09-30 18:33:50PIMCO’s ZROZ falls to a record low as long-dated Treasury principal exposure loses appealPIMCO’s ZROZ, an exchange-traded fund tied to the principal repayment value of long-dated US Treasuries, fell to an all-time low of $53.73, according to Protos. The fund is down 16% this year, 21% over the past 12 months, 63% over five years, and 73% from its March 2020 peak. Protos said the decline reflects the collapse in the present value of long-term Treasury principal repayments rather than any active management error, because ZROZ passively tracks a US Treasury Principal STRIPS Index covering 25- to 30-year maturities. STRIPS do not pay interest and are typically priced at a discount, even though repayment is backed by the US government. The report noted that higher yields on conventional Treasuries have made a principal-only product less attractive, citing a 5.64% annual yield on current 30-year Treasuries. Protos also said that, excluding dividends, buyers at any point since the ETF’s 2009 inception would be underwater, and that even after accounting for distributions, an investor would have needed to buy before September 2011 to show a profit.160
US Treasuries2026-08-20 06:17:41$123 Million Floods Into Long-Duration Treasury ETF a Day Before Treasury Buyback ExpansionA large and unusually timed bet hit the U.S. Treasury market just before the Treasury Department announced an expansion of its buyback program. According to BlockBeats, the Pimco 25+ Year Zero Coupon U.S. Treasury Index ETF, traded under the ticker ZROZ, recorded $123 million in net inflows on Tuesday, the biggest single-day inflow in the fund’s history. The ETF, which has about $1.5 billion in assets, also saw trading volume rise to 5.2 million shares, nearly double its previous 2024 peak. ZROZ holds STRIPS, or Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities, which are zero-coupon instruments created by splitting Treasury principal and interest payments. Because the fund carries an effective duration of about 28 years, it is highly sensitive to moves in long-end yields. In theory, a 1 percentage point decline in yields would translate into an about 28% gain in bond prices. The fund rose 3.2% on Wednesday, marking its biggest one-day advance since November 2024.1190
