Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
FTCB vs VPLS: Differences, Returns & Fees
FTCB's duration was 6.0 years on Jul 31, 2026 and VPLS's 5.4 on Jun 30, 2026; VPLS charges 0.20% to FTCB's 0.56%.
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Net assets: $2.7bn on Oct 27, 2026 for First Trust Core Investment Grade ETF, and $2.0bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Core-Plus Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
VPLS costs 0.36 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.0 point.
| Measure | FTCB | VPLS |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −2.0% | −1.0% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.7%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.56% | 0.20% |
| Net assets, FTCB as of Oct 27, 2026 and VPLS as of Sep 30, 2026 | $2.7bn | $2.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 2% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 15, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 149 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: FTCB against AGG, Nov 17, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; VPLS against IUSB, Dec 15, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026.
VPLS returned more: +10.7% to +9.5%. VPLS swung slightly less: 4.7% to 5.1%. VPLS fell less at its worst: −4.1% to −5.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FTCB | VPLS | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +9.5% | +10.7% | VPLS | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +3.2% | +3.6% | VPLS | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −5.3% | −2.6% | VPLS | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 5.1% | 4.7% | VPLS (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 3.8% | 3.5% | VPLS (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −5.3% | −4.1% | VPLS | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 107.2% | 102.5% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 103.3% | 99.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.04 | 1.01 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.97 | 0.99 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.22 | −0.16 | VPLS | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.29 | −0.21 | VPLS | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.003 | −0.007 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.61 | 0.88 | VPLS | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGG | IUSB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.6% a year | +0.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 1.09 | 1.40 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.5% to +1.6% | −0.2% to +1.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.61 | 0.80 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.9% | 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, 149 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, FTCB and VPLS hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.
half
2% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
FTCB and VPLS on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
FTCB and VPLS 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 Jun 30, 2026).
- Number of holdings. FTCB holds 793 positions and VPLS holds 2955.
- Cost. FTCB charges 0.56% of assets a year and VPLS 0.20%, a gap of 0.36 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.
VPLS
VPLS is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.0% with distributions reinvested, against −1.2% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.20% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, FTCB or VPLS?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTCB returned −2.0% and VPLS −1.0%.
- Which is cheaper, FTCB or VPLS?
- VPLS is cheaper, by 0.36 percentage points a year. That is about $36 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 VPLS, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftcb-vs-vpls
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). FTCB against VPLS. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftcb-vs-vpls
[FTCB against VPLS (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftcb-vs-vpls)
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