Data as of Sep 19, 2026.
BND vs CAOS: how they differ
Over the year CAOS returned more, +1.1% to BND's −0.4%, and BND charges 0.03% to CAOS's 0.63%.
Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF and Alpha Architect Tail Risk ETF.
| BND Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF | CAOS Alpha Architect Tail Risk ETF | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core fund | Alternatives ETF |
| Issuer | Vanguard | Alpha Architect |
| What it is | Tracks an index of US aggregate bonds | Hedged equity |
| Total return, 1 year | −0.4% | +1.1% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +16.6% | +16.6% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | −17.0 pts | −15.5 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.63% |
| Holdings | 16296 | not filed |
| Net assets | $163.3bn | $705m |
BND in plain words
BND tracks an index of US aggregate bonds. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026 it returned −0.4% with distributions reinvested, against +16.6% for the S&P 500 and +21.8% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 3.9% below its high of Aug 6, 2020 on Sep 18, 2026.
CAOS in plain words
CAOS is a hedged equity fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of −0.40 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of −0.04, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.04% the other way. The S&P 500 fell in 22 of those 52 weeks, by 1.24% on average. In the same weeks CAOS rose 0.08% on average, a down-week capture of −6.2%. Over the same 52 weeks CAOS returned +1.1% and a Treasury bill fund +3.6%, so it finished 2.6 percentage points behind cash.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, BND or CAOS?
- In the year to Sep 19, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BND returned −0.4% and CAOS returned +1.1%, so CAOS returned more.
- Which is cheaper, BND or CAOS?
- BND charges 0.03% a year and CAOS charges 0.63%, so BND is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- Are BND and CAOS the same kind of fund?
- No. BND is an index ETF and CAOS is an alternatives ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.
Other comparisons
Where to next
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.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, BND against CAOS, data as of Sep 19, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-caos Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources