Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BND vs CTA: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BND returned −1.3% to CTA's +18.4%, and BND charges 0.03% to CTA's 0.75%.
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Net assets: $161.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF, and $1.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF.
Pair scorecard
BND costs 0.72 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 19.7 points.
| Measure | BND | CTA |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −1.3% | +18.4% |
| Total return, 52 weeks | +17.4% | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.5%, high on Aug 6, 2020 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index | not published |
| Treasury bills, 52 weeks | +3.6% | |
| Against cash | 13.7 points ahead | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.75% |
| Net assets, BND as of Sep 30, 2026 and CTA as of Oct 27, 2026 | $161.4bn | $1.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Risk | ||
| Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns | −0.19 | |
| Beta to the S&P 500 | −0.36: about 0.36% for each 1% | |
| Its average week when the S&P 500 fell | rose 0.40% | |
| Down-week capture | −36.1% | |
| Weeks the S&P 500 fell | 26 of 52, by 1.10% on average | |
Side by side
BND and CTA on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BND
BND tracks an index of US aggregate bonds. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.3% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% 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. It sat 3.5% below its high of Aug 6, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.
CTA
CTA is a managed futures fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of −0.19 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of −0.36, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.36% the other way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.10% on average. In the same weeks CTA rose 0.40% on average, a down-week capture of −36.1%. Over the same 52 weeks CTA returned +17.4% and a Treasury bill fund +3.6%, so it finished 13.7 percentage points ahead of cash.
Questions people ask
- Are BND and CTA in the same category?
- BND is a bond ETF and CTA 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 CTA?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BND returned −1.3% and CTA +18.4%.
- Which is cheaper, BND or CTA?
- BND is cheaper, by 0.72 percentage points a year. That is about $72 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, BND against CTA, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-cta
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BND against CTA. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-cta
[BND against CTA (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-cta)
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