Which returned more over the last year, VCSH or VPU?

In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VCSH returned +1.6% and VPU returned +2.1%, so VPU returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.

Which is cheaper, VCSH or VPU?

VCSH charges 0.03% a year and VPU charges 0.09%, so VCSH is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

VCSH vs VPU: how they differ

VCSH and VPU hold 0% of their weight in the same names.

Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund and Vanguard Utilities Index Fund.

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, VCSH and VPU hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.

Largest positions each one holds and the other does not
Only in VCSH	Only in VPU
United States Treasury Note/Bond 0.85%	NextEra Energy Inc 11.84%
Bank of America Corp 0.24%	Southern Co/The 6.70%
AbbVie Inc 0.21%	Duke Energy Corp 6.31%
CVS Health Corp 0.21%	Constellation Energy Corp 5.86%
T-Mobile USA Inc 0.20%	American Electric Power Co Inc 4.47%
Boeing Co/The 0.20%	Sempra 3.85%
Wells Fargo & Co 0.18%	Dominion Energy Inc 3.78%
JPMorgan Chase & Co 0.18%	Vistra Corp 3.59%

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated May 31, 2026.

VCSH and VPU on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	VCSH Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund	VPU Vanguard Utilities Index Fund
Where it sits	Core index fund	Core index fund
Issuer	Vanguard	Vanguard
What it is	Short-Term Corporate Bond	Utilities
Total return, 1 year	+1.6%	+2.1%
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	+17.5%
Gap to the S&P 500	−15.9 pts	−15.4 pts
Expense ratio	0.03%	0.09%
Holdings	2999	66

VCSH in plain words

VCSH is a bond fund tracking the Short-Term Corporate Bond. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +1.6% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.

VPU in plain words

VPU is an index equity fund tracking the Utilities. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +2.1% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 90% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 66 positions, with the top ten at 52.7%. It sat 9.8% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, VCSH or VPU?: In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VCSH returned +1.6% and VPU returned +2.1%, so VPU returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
Which is cheaper, VCSH or VPU?: VCSH charges 0.03% a year and VPU charges 0.09%, so VCSH is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

VCSH against VPU, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 12, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, VCSH against VPU, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/VCSH-VPU Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources