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Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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BSV vs GOVT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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BSV's duration was 2.5 years on Jun 30, 2026 and GOVT's 5.5 on Jul 31, 2026; BSV charges 0.03% to GOVT's 0.05%.

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Net assets: $45.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF, and $42.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF.

BSV on its own →GOVT on its own →
At a glance
+1.0%
BSV total return, 1 year
−1.5%
GOVT total return, 1 year
0.03%
BSV expense ratio
0.05%
GOVT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

BSV costs 0.02 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.5 points; BSV is 1.1 times larger.

BSV vs GOVT: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureBSVGOVT
Return
Total return, 1 year+1.0%−1.5%
Drawdown
Below its high8.1%, high on Aug 4, 2020
Benchmark
What it tracksBloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Government/Credit Float Adjusted IndexICE U.S. Treasury Core Bond Index
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.03%0.05%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026$45.4bn$41.4bn
Holdings
Holdings in common38%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Mar 2, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 764 weekly returns
BSV GOVT
Return
Total return edge BSV +28.4% +18.4%
Annualized edge BSV +1.7% +1.2%
Price return edge BSV −5.4% −10.6%
Risk
Volatility edge BSV 2.0% 4.5%
Max drawdown edge BSV −8.1% −18.7%
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe edge BSV −0.01 −0.11
Sortino edge BSV −0.02 −0.15
Calmar edge BSV 0.21 0.06
Reading

BSV returned more: +28.4% to +18.4%. BSV swung less: 2.0% to 4.5%. BSV fell less at its worst: −8.1% to −18.7%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
Risk and return: BSV vs GOVT: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureBSVGOVTEdgeHow it is measured
Return
Total return+28.4%+18.4%BSVPrice change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized+1.7%+1.2%BSVTotal return as a yearly rate.
Price return−5.4%−10.6%BSVPrice change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility2.0%4.5%BSVSpread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation1.4%3.3%BSVLike volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown−8.1%−18.7%BSVDeepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe−0.01−0.11BSVReturn above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino−0.02−0.15BSVReturn above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar0.210.06BSVAnnualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 764 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

38%

By the books each fund has filed, BSV and GOVT hold 38% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.

0 half 100%

half

38% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first BSV GOVT
US TREASURY N/B, due Feb 28, 2030 0.88% 0.94%
US TREASURY N/B, due Mar 31, 2028 0.81% 0.98%
US TREASURY N/B, due Dec 31, 2029 0.77% 0.78%
US TREASURY N/B, due Oct 31, 2027 0.75% 0.93%
US TREASURY N/B, due Jun 30, 2029 0.71% 0.77%
US TREASURY N/B, due May 15, 2031 0.70% 0.73%
US TREASURY N/B, due Apr 30, 2028 0.68% 0.72%
US TREASURY N/B, due Nov 30, 2027 0.75% 0.67%
US TREASURY N/B, due May 31, 2028 0.67% 1.20%
US TREASURY N/B, due Jan 31, 2028 1.12% 0.63%
US TREASURY N/B, due Sep 30, 2027 0.63% 0.78%
US TREASURY N/B, due Aug 15, 2030 0.75% 0.60%
Only in one fund ↓
Only in BSV
US TREASURY N/B, due Aug 31, 2030 0.64%
US TREASURY N/B, due Apr 30, 2029 0.62%
US TREASURY N/B, due Jun 30, 2030 0.55%
US TREASURY N/B, due Feb 28, 2029 0.53%
US TREASURY N/B, due Jan 31, 2029 0.51%
US TREASURY N/B, due Dec 15, 2027 0.51%
US TREASURY N/B, due Dec 31, 2028 0.51%
US TREASURY N/B, due Jan 15, 2028 0.51%
Only in GOVT
U.S. Treasury Notes, due Nov 15, 2031 5.28%
U.S. Treasury Bonds, due May 15, 2046 1.48%
U.S. Treasury Bonds, due Nov 15, 2042 1.46%
U.S. Treasury Bonds, due Feb 15, 2051 1.46%
U.S. Treasury Bonds, due Nov 15, 2043 1.37%
U.S. Treasury Notes, due Feb 15, 2034 0.99%
U.S. Treasury Notes, due Aug 15, 2034 0.92%
U.S. Treasury Notes, due Feb 15, 2033 0.84%
Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

BSV Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF GOVT iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF
Where it sits Bond ETF Bond ETF
Issuer Vanguard iShares
What it is Tracks an index of Short-Term Bond Tracks an index of U.S. Treasury Bond
Total return, 1 year +1.0% −1.5%
Expense ratio 0.03% 0.05%
Holdings 3157 229
Net assets, BSV as of Sep 30, 2026 and GOVT as of Oct 27, 2026 $45.4bn $42.8bn

BSV and GOVT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-F8928AF4E4

BSV and GOVT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

  1. What each follows. BSV follows Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Government/Credit Float Adjusted Index and GOVT follows ICE U.S. Treasury Core Bond Index.
  2. Holdings in common. 38% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026).
  3. One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 BSV returned +1.0% and GOVT −1.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.5 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund
BSV

BSV tracks an index of Short-Term Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.

GOVT

GOVT tracks an index of U.S. Treasury Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.05% a year. It sat 8.1% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, BSV or GOVT?
In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BSV returned +1.0% and GOVT −1.5%.
Which is cheaper, BSV or GOVT?
BSV is cheaper, by 0.02 percentage points a year. That is about $2 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Other comparisons
BSV vs IEFBSV vs VGITBSV vs MBBBSV vs VGSHGOVT vs VCSHGOVT vs IGSBGOVT vs SPSBGOVT vs IEF
Where to next
BSV on its own →GOVT on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →BSV dividend history →BSV holdings →GOVT dividend history →GOVT holdings →Standards and sources →
Sources and dates
BSV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗
BSV prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗
Vanguard page for BSV ↗
GOVT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗
GOVT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗
iShares page for GOVT ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, BSV against GOVT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bsv-vs-govt

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.