Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BND vs IEI: Differences, Returns & Fees
BND's duration was 5.7 years on Jun 30, 2026 and IEI's 4.3 on Aug 31, 2026; BND charges 0.03% to IEI's 0.15%.
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Net assets: $161.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF, and $17.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
BND costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.2 points; BND is 9.6 times larger.
| Measure | BND | IEI |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −1.3% | −1.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.5%, high on Aug 6, 2020 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index | ICE U.S. Treasury 3-7 Year Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $161.4bn | $16.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 15% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 20, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,018 weekly returnsBND returned slightly more: +75.5% to +68.5%. IEI swung less: 3.8% to 5.0%. IEI fell less at its worst: −14.1% to −18.4%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BND | IEI | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +75.5% | +68.5% | BND (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +2.9% | +2.7% | BND (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −5.4% | +13.9% | IEI | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 5.0% | 3.8% | IEI | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 3.7% | 2.7% | IEI | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −18.4% | −14.1% | IEI | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.29 | 0.31 | IEI (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.39 | 0.45 | IEI | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.16 | 0.19 | IEI | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,018 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, BND and IEI hold 15% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
15% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
BND and IEI on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BND and IEI do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BND follows Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index and IEI follows ICE U.S. Treasury 3-7 Year Bond Index.
- Holdings in common. 15% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026).
- Number of holdings. BND holds 16,301 positions and IEI holds 82.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
IEI
IEI tracks an index of 3-7 Year Treasury Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.1% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, BND or IEI?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BND returned −1.3% and IEI −1.1%.
- Which is cheaper, BND or IEI?
- BND is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, BND against IEI, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-iei
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BND against IEI. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-iei
[BND against IEI (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-iei)
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