The main idea of the iShares 1-3 year International Treasury Bond ETF (ISHG) is to provide exposure to bonds issued by mature, developed world nations. It is thought that such bonds pose very little risk of default, as well as limited FX risk, given that the currencies of developed world nations tend to be relatively stable from a historical perspective. Unfortunately, trends have not been particularly kind to this ETF since it was launched in 2009. There will most likely be another few years of pain, before circumstances will reverse the current downward