Are BND and FTLS in the same category?

BND is a bond ETF and FTLS 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 FTLS?

In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BND returned +0.2% and FTLS +8.5%.

Which is cheaper, BND or FTLS?

BND is cheaper, by 1.35 percentage points a year. That is about $135 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Across categories

BND vs FTLS: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, BND returned +0.2% to FTLS's +8.5%, and BND charges 0.03% to FTLS's 1.38%.

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Net assets: $167.4bn on Oct 31, 2026 for Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF, and $2.6bn on Nov 3, 2026 for First Trust Long/Short Equity.

BND on its own →FTLS on its own →

At a glance

+0.2%

BND total return, 1 year

+8.5%

FTLS total return, 1 year

0.03%

BND expense ratio

1.38%

FTLS expense ratio

Pair scorecard

BND costs 1.35 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.3 points.

BND vs FTLS: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	BND	FTLS
Return
Measure	BND	FTLS
Total return, 1 year	+0.2%	+8.5%
Total return, 52 weeks		+7.7%
Against its benchmark
Measure	BND	FTLS
What it tracks	Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index	not published
Treasury bills, 52 weeks		+3.7%
Against cash		4.1 points ahead
Cost and size
Measure	BND	FTLS
Expense ratio	0.03%	1.38%
Net assets, BND as of Oct 31, 2026 and FTLS as of Nov 3, 2026	$167.4bn	$2.6bn
Holdings
Measure	BND	FTLS
Holdings in common	not published
Risk
Measure	BND	FTLS
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns		+0.83
Beta to the S&P 500		+0.48: about 0.48% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell		fell 0.48%
Down-week capture		44.7%
Weeks the S&P 500 fell		26 of 52, by 1.07% on average

Method

Side by side

BND Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF FTLS First Trust Long/Short Equity

Where it sits Bond ETF Alternatives ETF

Issuer Vanguard First Trust

What it is Tracks an index of US aggregate bonds Long-short equity

Total return, 1 year +0.2% +8.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +0.2% (AGG) +14.8% (VOO)

Gap to its benchmark 0.0 pts vs AGG −6.3 pts vs VOO

Expense ratio 0.03% 1.38%

Holdings 16300 not read by ETFIQ

Net assets, BND as of Oct 31, 2026 and FTLS as of Nov 3, 2026 $167.4bn $2.6bn

BND and FTLS 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.

FTLS

FTLS is a long-short equity 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 +0.83 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.48, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.48% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks FTLS fell 0.48% on average, a down-week capture of 44.7%. Over the same 52 weeks FTLS returned +7.7% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 4.1 percentage points ahead of cash.

Questions people ask

Are BND and FTLS in the same category?: BND is a bond ETF and FTLS 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 FTLS?: In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BND returned +0.2% and FTLS +8.5%.
Which is cheaper, BND or FTLS?: BND is cheaper, by 1.35 percentage points a year. That is about $135 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

BND vs CLSE BND vs CSM BND vs ORR BND vs FFLS AGG vs FTLS FTLS vs TLT FTLS vs SPY FTLS 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 →FTLS on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →BND dividend history →BND holdings →FTLS dividend history →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

BND filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

BND prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for BND ↗

FTLS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FTLS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FTLS ↗

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

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

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