Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BALI vs VTI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BALI returned +17.6% to VTI's +13.5%, and VTI charges 0.03% to BALI's 0.35%.
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Net assets: $1.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares U.S. Large Cap Premium Income Active ETF, and $689.2bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF.
Pair scorecard
VTI costs 0.32 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.1 points; VTI is far larger, $689.2bn against $1.4bn.
| Measure | BALI | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +17.6% | +13.5% |
| Price change, 1 year | rose 8.4% | rose 12.2% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 6.1% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 0% of the Oct 6, 2026 payment | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Benchmark: S&P 500, measured through SPY | Morningstar US Total Market Index |
| Against its benchmark, same days | ahead by 4.0 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $1.4bn | $689.2bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 59% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 88% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 34.7% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Oct 6, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 159 weekly returnsVTI returned slightly more: +82.0% to +76.2%. BALI swung less: 12.3% to 14.4%. BALI fell less at its worst: −15.3% to −17.4%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BALI | VTI | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +76.2% | +82.0% | VTI (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +20.3% | +21.6% | VTI (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +37.8% | +75.2% | VTI | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 12.3% | 14.4% | BALI | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 7.9% | 9.2% | BALI | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −15.3% | −17.4% | BALI | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 1.21 | 1.12 | BALI (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.87 | 1.75 | BALI (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 1.33 | 1.24 | BALI (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 159 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, BALI and VTI hold 59% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
59% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
BALI and VTI on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
BALI and VTI do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BALI is measured against S&P 500 through SPY and VTI follows Morningstar US Total Market Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 BALI returned +17.6% and VTI +13.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.1 points.
- Cost. BALI charges 0.35% of assets a year and VTI 0.03%, a gap of 0.32 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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BALI
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BALI paid 8.3% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 8.4%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +17.6%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +13.6% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 4.0 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 6.1%, paid monthly. iShares estimates that 0% of the distribution paid Oct 6, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
VTI
VTI tracks an index of US total market. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 88% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 3,521 positions, with the top ten at 34.7%.
Questions people ask
- Are BALI and VTI in the same category?
- BALI is an option-income ETF and VTI is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, BALI or VTI?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BALI returned +17.6% and VTI +13.5%.
- Which is cheaper, BALI or VTI?
- VTI is cheaper, by 0.32 percentage points a year. That is about $32 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, BALI against VTI, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bali-vs-vti
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BALI against VTI. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bali-vs-vti
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