Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
FTCB vs PTRB: Differences, Returns & Fees
FTCB's duration was 6.0 years on Jul 31, 2026 and PTRB's 5.9 on May 29, 2026; PTRB charges 0.49% to FTCB's 0.56%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $2.7bn for First Trust Core Investment Grade ETF and $1.2bn for PGIM Total Return Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
PTRB costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.4 points; FTCB is 2.3 times larger.
| Measure | FTCB | PTRB |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −2.0% | −1.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.7%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | 3.2%, high on Feb 27, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.56% | 0.49% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $2.7bn | $1.2bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 2% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 29, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 17, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 153 weekly returns · each against AGGPTRB returned slightly more: +14.9% to +14.5%. PTRB swung slightly less: 5.1% to 5.3%. PTRB fell slightly less at its worst: −4.9% to −5.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FTCB | PTRB | AGG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +14.5% | +14.9% | PTRB (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +4.7% | +4.8% | PTRB (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | −1.1% | −0.1% | PTRB | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 5.3% | 5.1% | PTRB (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 3.7% | 3.7% | PTRB (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −5.3% | −4.9% | PTRB (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 107.2% | 104.1% | 100.0% | FTCB (slight) | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 103.3% | 99.2% | 100.0% | PTRB (slight) | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 1.04 | 0.99 | 1.00 | PTRB lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.97 | 0.96 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.06 | 0.08 | PTRB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 0.08 | 0.11 | PTRB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.003 | 0.004 | −0.002 | PTRB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.88 | 0.99 | PTRB | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | AGG | AGG | AGG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.6% a year | +0.6% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 1.09 | 1.08 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −0.5% to +1.6% | −0.5% to +1.8% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.61 | 0.63 | PTRB (slight) | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.9% | 1.0% | 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, 153 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, FTCB and PTRB hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 29, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.
half
2% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
FTCB and PTRB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
FTCB and PTRB are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Holdings in common. 2% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and May 29, 2026).
- What each follows (similar). Both follow No index, actively managed.
- One-year total return (similar). Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FTCB returned −2.0% and PTRB −1.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 0.4 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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FTCB
FTCB is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −2.0% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.56% a year. It sat 3.7% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
PTRB
PTRB is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.6% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.49% a year. It sat 3.2% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, FTCB or PTRB?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTCB returned −2.0% and PTRB −1.6%.
- Which is cheaper, FTCB or PTRB?
- PTRB is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 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, FTCB against PTRB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftcb-vs-ptrb
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). FTCB against PTRB. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftcb-vs-ptrb
[FTCB against PTRB (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftcb-vs-ptrb)
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