Are BND and FMF in the same category?

BND is a bond ETF and FMF 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 FMF?

In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BND returned +0.2% and FMF +11.1%.

Which is cheaper, BND or FMF?

BND is cheaper, by 0.95 percentage points a year. That is about $95 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Across categories

BND vs FMF: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, BND returned +0.2% to FMF's +11.1%, and BND charges 0.03% to FMF's 0.98%.

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Net assets: $167.4bn on Oct 31, 2026 for Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF, and $298m on Nov 3, 2026 for First Trust Managed Futures Strategy Fund.

BND on its own →FMF on its own →

At a glance

+0.2%

BND total return, 1 year

+11.1%

FMF total return, 1 year

0.03%

BND expense ratio

0.98%

FMF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

BND costs 0.95 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.9 points.

BND vs FMF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	BND	FMF
Return
Measure	BND	FMF
Total return, 1 year	+0.2%	+11.1%
Total return, 52 weeks		+10.6%
Against its benchmark
Measure	BND	FMF
What it tracks	Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index	not published
Treasury bills, 52 weeks		+3.7%
Against cash		6.9 points ahead
Cost and size
Measure	BND	FMF
Expense ratio	0.03%	0.98%
Net assets, BND as of Oct 31, 2026 and FMF as of Nov 3, 2026	$167.4bn	$298m
Holdings
Measure	BND	FMF
Holdings in common	not published
Risk
Measure	BND	FMF
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns		+0.16
Beta to the S&P 500		+0.11: about 0.11% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell		fell 0.11%
Down-week capture		9.9%
Weeks the S&P 500 fell		26 of 52, by 1.07% on average

Method

Side by side

BND Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF FMF First Trust Managed Futures Strategy Fund

Where it sits Bond ETF Alternatives ETF

Issuer Vanguard First Trust

What it is Tracks an index of US aggregate bonds Managed futures

Total return, 1 year +0.2% +11.1%

Its benchmark over the same days +0.2% (AGG) not measured

Gap to its benchmark 0.0 pts vs AGG not measured

Expense ratio 0.03% 0.98%

Holdings 16300 not read by ETFIQ

Net assets, BND as of Oct 31, 2026 and FMF as of Nov 3, 2026 $167.4bn $298m

BND and FMF on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

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.

FMF

FMF 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 Nov 4, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.16 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.11, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.11% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks FMF fell 0.11% on average, a down-week capture of 9.9%. Over the same 52 weeks FMF returned +10.6% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 6.9 percentage points ahead of cash.

Questions people ask

Are BND and FMF in the same category?: BND is a bond ETF and FMF 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 FMF?: In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BND returned +0.2% and FMF +11.1%.
Which is cheaper, BND or FMF?: BND is cheaper, by 0.95 percentage points a year. That is about $95 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

BND vs RSBT BND vs CTA BND vs MFUT BND vs ISMF AGG vs FMF FMF vs TLT FMF vs SPY FMF vs IVV

Where to next

BIL, the T-bill fund these are measured against →SPY, the S&P 500 fund these are measured against →BND on its own →FMF on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →BND dividend history →BND holdings →FMF dividend history →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

BND filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

BND prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for BND ↗

FMF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FMF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FMF ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

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ETFIQ, BND against FMF, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-fmf

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