Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
BND vs BTAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, BND returned +0.2% to BTAL's −11.5%, and BND charges 0.03% to BTAL's 1.25%.
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Net assets: $167.4bn on Oct 31, 2026 for Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF, and $283m on Jun 30, 2026 for AGF U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund.
Pair scorecard
BND costs 1.22 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.7 points.
| Measure | BND | BTAL |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +0.2% | −11.5% |
| Total return, 52 weeks | −10.0% | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index | not published |
| Treasury bills, 52 weeks | +3.7% | |
| Against cash | 13.7 points behind | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 1.25% |
| Net assets, BND as of Oct 31, 2026 and BTAL as of Jun 30, 2026 | $167.4bn | $283m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Risk | ||
| Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns | −0.74 | |
| Beta to the S&P 500 | −1.37: about 1.37% for each 1% | |
| Its average week when the S&P 500 fell | rose 1.80% | |
| Down-week capture | −168.4% | |
| Weeks the S&P 500 fell | 26 of 52, by 1.07% on average | |
Side by side
BND and BTAL on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BND
BND tracks an index of US aggregate bonds. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 it returned +0.2% with distributions reinvested, against +0.2% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index, measured by the closely related Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.
BTAL
BTAL is a market neutral fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of −0.74 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of −1.37, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 1.37% the other way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks BTAL rose 1.80% on average, a down-week capture of −168.4%. Over the same 52 weeks BTAL returned −10.0% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 13.7 percentage points behind cash.
Questions people ask
- Are BND and BTAL in the same category?
- BND is a bond ETF and BTAL is an alternatives ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, BND or BTAL?
- In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BND returned +0.2% and BTAL −11.5%.
- Which is cheaper, BND or BTAL?
- BND is cheaper, by 1.22 percentage points a year. That is about $122 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, BND against BTAL, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-btal
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). BND against BTAL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-btal
[BND against BTAL (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-btal)
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