Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BSCS vs VSDB: Differences, Returns & Fees
BSCS's duration was 1.8 years on May 31, 2026 and VSDB's 2.5 on Jun 30, 2026; BSCS charges 0.10% to VSDB's 0.15%.
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Net assets: $3.5bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF, and $1.0bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Short Duration Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
BSCS costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.7 points.
| Measure | BSCS | VSDB |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +2.4% | +1.7% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Invesco BulletShares USD Corporate Bond 2028 Index | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.10% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, BSCS as of Oct 27, 2026 and VSDB as of Sep 30, 2026 | $3.5bn | $1.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 2% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 11, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 80 weekly returns · each against AGGBSCS returned slightly more: +7.3% to +7.1%. BSCS swung slightly less: 1.6% to 1.8%. BSCS fell less at its worst: −1.0% to −1.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BSCS | VSDB | AGG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +7.3% | +7.1% | BSCS (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +4.7% | +4.5% | BSCS (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | 0.0% | +0.5% | VSDB | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 1.6% | 1.8% | BSCS (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 1.0% | 1.3% | BSCS | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −1.0% | −1.4% | BSCS | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 44.0% | 50.5% | 100.0% | VSDB | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 15.9% | 27.1% | 100.0% | BSCS | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.35 | 0.43 | 1.00 | BSCS lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.62 | 0.76 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.41 | 0.29 | BSCS | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 0.64 | 0.40 | BSCS | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.019 | 0.012 | −0.007 | BSCS | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 4.91 | 3.19 | BSCS | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | AGG | AGG | AGG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.9% a year | +0.8% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 1.14 | 1.16 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −0.7% to +2.5% | −0.6% to +2.2% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.53 | 0.54 | Tie | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 2.6% | 2.3% | 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, 80 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, BSCS and VSDB hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.
half
2% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
BSCS and VSDB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BSCS and VSDB are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. BSCS follows Invesco BulletShares USD Corporate Bond 2028 Index and VSDB follows No index, actively managed.
- Holdings in common. 2% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026).
- Number of holdings. BSCS holds 487 positions and VSDB holds 1525.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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BSCS
BSCS tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.4% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.10% a year.
VSDB
VSDB is actively managed and tracks no index. 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 0.15% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, BSCS or VSDB?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BSCS returned +2.4% and VSDB +1.7%.
- Which is cheaper, BSCS or VSDB?
- BSCS is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 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, BSCS against VSDB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bscs-vs-vsdb
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BSCS against VSDB. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bscs-vs-vsdb
[BSCS against VSDB (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bscs-vs-vsdb)
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