Data as of Sep 19, 2026.
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 Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF | MNA NYLIM Merger Arbitrage ETF | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core fund | Alternatives ETF |
| Issuer | Vanguard | New York Life Investments |
| What it is | Tracks an index of US aggregate bonds | Event 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 ratio | 0.03% | 0.78% |
| Holdings | 16296 | not 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.
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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.
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