Get the weekly note

Data as of Sep 19, 2026.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

BND vs MNA: how they differ

Over the year MNA returned more, +1.9% to BND's −0.4%, and BND charges 0.03% to MNA's 0.78%.

Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF and NYLIM Merger Arbitrage ETF.

BND and MNA on the fields both publish, as of Sep 19, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BND
Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF
MNA
NYLIM Merger Arbitrage ETF
Where it sitsCore fundAlternatives ETF
IssuerVanguardNew York Life Investments
What it isTracks an index of US aggregate bondsEvent driven
Total return, 1 year−0.4%+1.9%
S&P 500 over the same days+16.6%+16.6%
Gap to the S&P 500−17.0 pts−14.7 pts
Expense ratio0.03%0.78%
Holdings16296not filed
Net assets$163.3bn$249m

BND in plain words

BND tracks an index of US aggregate bonds. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026 it returned −0.4% with distributions reinvested, against +16.6% for the S&P 500 and +21.8% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 3.9% below its high of Aug 6, 2020 on Sep 18, 2026.

MNA in plain words

MNA is an event driven fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.15 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.03, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.03% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 22 of those 52 weeks, by 1.24% on average. In the same weeks MNA rose 0.04% on average, a down-week capture of −3.1%. Over the same 52 weeks MNA returned +2.7% and a Treasury bill fund +3.6%, so it finished 0.9 percentage points behind cash.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, BND or MNA?
In the year to Sep 19, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BND returned −0.4% and MNA returned +1.9%, so MNA returned more.
Which is cheaper, BND or MNA?
BND charges 0.03% a year and MNA charges 0.78%, so BND is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are BND and MNA the same kind of fund?
No. BND is an index ETF and MNA is an alternatives ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Other comparisons

Where to next

Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

BND against MNA, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 19, 2026. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, BND against MNA, data as of Sep 19, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-mna Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources