Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BND vs JNK: Differences, Returns & Fees
On Jun 30, 2026 BND's duration was 5.7 years and JNK's 3.4; BND charges 0.03% to JNK's 0.40%.
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Net assets: $161.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF, and $5.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
BND costs 0.37 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.0 points; BND is far larger, $161.4bn against $6.5bn.
| Measure | BND | JNK |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −1.3% | +1.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.5%, high on Aug 6, 2020 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index | Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.40% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $161.4bn | $6.5bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 14, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 984 weekly returns · each against AGGJNK returned more: +141.3% to +68.6%. BND swung less: 5.1% to 12.7%. BND fell less at its worst: −18.4% to −38.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BND | JNK | AGG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +68.6% | +141.3% | JNK | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +2.8% | +4.8% | JNK | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | −6.5% | −35.6% | BND | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 5.1% | 12.7% | BND | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 3.7% | 9.4% | BND | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −18.4% | −38.4% | BND | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 95.9% | 54.4% | 100.0% | BND | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 96.0% | 35.8% | 100.0% | JNK | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.91 | 1.16 | 1.00 | BND lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.94 | 0.24 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.28 | 0.32 | JNK | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 0.39 | 0.43 | JNK | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.016 | 0.035 | 0.014 | JNK | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.15 | 0.12 | BND | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | AGG | AGG | AGG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.1% a year | +2.4% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.51 | 0.94 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.7% | −2.6% to +7.4% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.01 | 0.24 | JNK | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.3% | 11.1% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 984 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, BND and JNK hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
BND and JNK on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BND and JNK do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BND follows Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index and JNK follows Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 BND returned −1.3% and JNK +1.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.0 points.
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.
JNK
JNK tracks the Bloomberg High Yield Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.7% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.40% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, BND or JNK?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BND returned −1.3% and JNK +1.7%.
- Which is cheaper, BND or JNK?
- BND is cheaper, by 0.37 percentage points a year. That is about $37 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
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 JNK, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-jnk
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BND against JNK. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-jnk
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