Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
DFSD vs VSDB: Differences, Returns & Fees
DFSD's duration was 2.9 years on Jul 31, 2026 and VSDB's 2.5 on Jun 30, 2026; VSDB charges 0.15% to DFSD's 0.16%.
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Net assets: $7.1bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional Short-Duration Fixed Income ETF, and $1.0bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Short Duration Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
VSDB costs 0.01 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.6 points.
| Measure | DFSD | VSDB |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.1% | +1.7% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.16% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, DFSD as of Jul 31, 2026 and VSDB as of Sep 30, 2026 | $7.1bn | $1.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 4% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 11, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 80 weekly returns · each against AGGVSDB returned more: +7.1% to +6.2%. VSDB swung slightly less: 1.8% to 2.0%. DFSD fell slightly less at its worst: −1.4% to −1.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DFSD | VSDB | AGG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +6.2% | +7.1% | VSDB | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +4.0% | +4.5% | VSDB | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | −0.8% | +0.5% | VSDB | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 2.0% | 1.8% | VSDB (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 1.4% | 1.3% | VSDB (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −1.4% | −1.4% | DFSD (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 54.2% | 50.5% | 100.0% | DFSD (slight) | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 37.4% | 27.1% | 100.0% | VSDB | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.49 | 0.43 | 1.00 | VSDB lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.82 | 0.76 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.00 | 0.29 | VSDB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | −0.01 | 0.40 | VSDB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.000 | 0.012 | −0.007 | VSDB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 2.88 | 3.19 | VSDB (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | AGG | AGG | AGG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.3% a year | +0.8% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.49 | 1.16 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −1.0% to +1.7% | −0.6% to +2.2% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.34 | 0.54 | VSDB | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 2.1% | 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, DFSD and VSDB hold 4% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.
half
4% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
DFSD and VSDB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DFSD and VSDB are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Holdings in common. 4% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026).
- What each follows (similar). Both follow No index, actively managed.
- One-year total return (similar). Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 DFSD returned +1.1% and VSDB +1.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 0.6 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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DFSD
DFSD is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.1% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.16% 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, DFSD or VSDB?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFSD returned +1.1% and VSDB +1.7%.
- Which is cheaper, DFSD or VSDB?
- VSDB is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 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, DFSD against VSDB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfsd-vs-vsdb
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). DFSD against VSDB. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfsd-vs-vsdb
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