Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BND vs VTG: Differences, Returns & Fees
On Jun 30, 2026 BND's duration was 5.7 years and VTG's 5.5; both charge 0.03%.
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Net assets on Sep 30, 2026: $161.4bn for Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF and $228m for Vanguard Total Treasury ETF.
Pair scorecard
Both cost 0.03% a year; their one-year returns differ by 0.2 points; BND is far larger, $161.4bn against $228m.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | BND | VTG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −1.3% | −1.5% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.5%, high on Aug 6, 2020 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index | Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Total Return Unhedged USD Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $161.4bn | $228m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 48% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jul 18, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 66 weekly returns · each against AGGBND returned more: +2.7% to +2.3%. VTG swung slightly less: 3.4% to 3.6%. BND and VTG fell about the same at their worst: −4.4% and −4.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BND | VTG | AGG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +2.7% | +2.3% | BND | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +2.1% | +1.8% | BND | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | −2.3% | −2.2% | VTG (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 3.6% | 3.4% | VTG (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 2.8% | 2.6% | VTG (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −4.4% | −4.4% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 97.7% | 90.8% | 100.0% | BND (slight) | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 98.6% | 93.3% | 100.0% | VTG (slight) | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.98 | 0.91 | 1.00 | VTG lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.97 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | −0.46 | −0.59 | BND | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | −0.60 | −0.77 | BND | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | −0.017 | −0.022 | −0.016 | BND | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.49 | 0.41 | 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 | −0.6% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.53 | −1.01 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −0.5% to +0.3% | −1.7% to +0.6% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.29 | −0.60 | BND | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.3% | 0.7% | 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, 66 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, BND and VTG hold 48% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026.
half
48% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
BND and VTG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BND and VTG do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BND follows Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index and VTG follows Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Total Return Unhedged USD Index.
- Holdings in common. 48% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026).
- Number of holdings. BND holds 16,301 positions and VTG holds 287.
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.
VTG
VTG tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.5% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index.
Questions people ask
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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 VTG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-vtg
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BND against VTG. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-vtg
[BND against VTG (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bnd-vs-vtg)
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