Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BOND vs VPU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BOND returned −1.4% to VPU's −3.3%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $8.3bn on Jun 30, 2026 for PIMCO Active Bond Exchange-Traded Fund, and $7.7bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Utilities ETF.
Pair scorecard
VPU costs 0.45 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.9 points.
| Measure | BOND | VPU |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −1.4% | −3.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.1%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | 8.9%, high on Feb 27, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50 |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.54% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, BOND as of Jun 30, 2026 and VPU as of Sep 30, 2026 | $8.3bn | $7.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 90% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 52.3% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Mar 9, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 763 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: BOND against AGG, Mar 9, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026; VPU against FUTY, Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
VPU returned more: +294.0% to +47.4%. BOND swung less: 4.9% to 17.5%. BOND fell less at its worst: −19.5% to −32.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BOND | VPU | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +47.4% | +294.0% | VPU | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +2.7% | +9.8% | VPU | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −12.6% | +144.2% | VPU | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 4.9% | 17.5% | BOND | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 3.6% | 12.0% | BOND | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −19.5% | −32.4% | BOND | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 102.2% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 95.5% | 100.1% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.97 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.88 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.21 | 0.52 | VPU | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.28 | 0.76 | VPU | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.010 | 0.087 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.14 | 0.30 | VPU | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGG | FUTY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.9% a year | 0.0% a year | VPU not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 2.05 | −0.21 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | 0.0% to +1.7% | −0.4% to +0.3% | VPU includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.53 | 0.00 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.7% | 0.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 763 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, BOND and VPU hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
BOND and VPU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BOND and VPU do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BOND follows No index, actively managed and VPU follows MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- Number of holdings. BOND holds 1,565 positions and VPU holds 70.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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BOND
BOND is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.4% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.54% a year. It sat 3.1% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
VPU
VPU tracks an index of Utilities. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.3% with distributions reinvested, against −3.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 90% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 70 positions, with the top ten at 52.3%. It sat 8.9% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, BOND or VPU?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BOND returned −1.4% and VPU −3.3%.
- Which is cheaper, BOND or VPU?
- VPU is cheaper, by 0.45 percentage points a year. That is about $45 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, BOND against VPU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bond-vs-vpu
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