Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
CGSD vs VCSH: Differences, Returns & Fees
CGSD's duration was 2.4 years on Jun 30, 2026 and VCSH's 2.7 on May 31, 2026; VCSH charges 0.03% to CGSD's 0.25%.
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Net assets: $2.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Capital Group Short Duration Income ETF, and $43.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
VCSH costs 0.22 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.6 points; VCSH is 16.3 times larger.
| Measure | CGSD | VCSH |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.9% | +1.3% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Corporate Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.25% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $2.7bn | $43.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 11% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 4, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026 · 207 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: CGSD against AGGM, Nov 4, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026; VCSH against SCHJ, Oct 18, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026.
VCSH returned slightly more: +22.4% to +20.9%. CGSD swung less: 1.9% to 2.6%. CGSD and VCSH fell about the same at their worst: −1.4% and −1.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | CGSD | VCSH | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +20.9% | +22.4% | VCSH (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.9% | +5.2% | VCSH (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +1.6% | +5.1% | VCSH | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.9% | 2.6% | CGSD | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 1.2% | 1.7% | CGSD | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −1.4% | −1.4% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 36.3% | 98.3% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 16.5% | 98.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.29 | 0.95 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.64 | 0.99 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.10 | 0.20 | VCSH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.15 | 0.30 | VCSH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.006 | −0.003 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 3.56 | 3.85 | VCSH (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGGM | SCHJ | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.4% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.69 | −0.29 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.7% to +1.5% | −0.4% to +0.3% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.23 | −0.06 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.0% | 0.5% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 207 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, CGSD and VCSH hold 11% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.
half
11% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
CGSD and VCSH on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
CGSD and VCSH are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. CGSD follows No index, actively managed and VCSH follows Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Corporate Bond Index.
- Holdings in common. 11% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and May 31, 2026).
- Cost. CGSD charges 0.25% of assets a year and VCSH 0.03%, a gap of 0.22 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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CGSD
CGSD is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.9% with distributions reinvested, against −1.8% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Government/Credit. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.25% a year.
VCSH
VCSH tracks an index of Short-Term Corporate Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.3% with distributions reinvested, against +1.3% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Corporate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, CGSD or VCSH?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, CGSD returned +1.9% and VCSH +1.3%.
- Which is cheaper, CGSD or VCSH?
- VCSH is cheaper, by 0.22 percentage points a year. That is about $22 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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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, CGSD against VCSH, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cgsd-vs-vcsh
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