Are BND and HOLD in the same category?

BND is a bond ETF and HOLD 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 HOLD?

In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BND returned +0.2% and HOLD +0.8%.

Which is cheaper, BND or HOLD?

BND is cheaper, by 0.67 percentage points a year. That is about $67 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Across categories

BND vs HOLD: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, BND returned +0.2% to HOLD's +0.8%, and BND charges 0.03% to HOLD's 0.70%.

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Net assets: $167.4bn on Oct 31, 2026 for Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF, and $3.9m on Nov 4, 2026 for Harbor Alpha Layering ETF.

BND on its own →HOLD on its own →

At a glance

+0.2%

BND total return, 1 year

+0.8%

HOLD total return, 1 year

0.03%

BND expense ratio

0.70%

HOLD expense ratio

Pair scorecard

BND costs 0.67 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.6 points.

BND vs HOLD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	BND	HOLD
Return
Measure	BND	HOLD
Total return, 1 year	+0.2%	+0.8%
Total return, 52 weeks		+0.3%
Against its benchmark
Measure	BND	HOLD
What it tracks	Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index	not published
Treasury bills, 52 weeks		+3.7%
Against cash		3.3 points behind
Cost and size
Measure	BND	HOLD
Expense ratio	0.03%	0.70%
Net assets, BND as of Oct 31, 2026 and HOLD as of Nov 4, 2026	$167.4bn	$3.9m
Holdings
Measure	BND	HOLD
Holdings in common	not published
Risk
Measure	BND	HOLD
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns		+0.66
Beta to the S&P 500		+0.81: about 0.81% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell		fell 1.29%
Down-week capture		120.5%
Weeks the S&P 500 fell		26 of 52, by 1.07% on average

Method

Side by side

BND Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF HOLD Harbor Alpha Layering ETF

Where it sits Bond ETF Alternatives ETF

Issuer Vanguard Harbor

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

Total return, 1 year +0.2% +0.8%

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

Gap to its benchmark 0.0 pts vs AGG −14.0 pts vs VOO

Expense ratio 0.03% 0.70%

Holdings 16300 not read by ETFIQ

Net assets, BND as of Oct 31, 2026 and HOLD as of Nov 4, 2026 $167.4bn $3.9m

BND and HOLD 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.

HOLD

HOLD 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 +0.66 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.81, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.81% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks HOLD fell 1.29% on average, a down-week capture of 120.5%. Over the same 52 weeks HOLD returned +0.3% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 3.3 percentage points behind cash.

Questions people ask

Are BND and HOLD in the same category?: BND is a bond ETF and HOLD 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 HOLD?: In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BND returned +0.2% and HOLD +0.8%.
Which is cheaper, BND or HOLD?: BND is cheaper, by 0.67 percentage points a year. That is about $67 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

BND vs HFMF BND vs PRAE BND vs MFUT BND vs RSBT AGG vs HOLD HOLD vs TLT HOLD vs SPY HOLD 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 →HOLD on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →BND dividend history →BND holdings →HOLD dividend history →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

BND filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

BND prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for BND ↗

HOLD filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

HOLD prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Harbor page for HOLD ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.