Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
JNK vs VGLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
JNK's duration was 3.4 years on Jun 30, 2026 and VGLT's 13.5 on May 31, 2026; VGLT charges 0.03% to JNK's 0.40%.
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Net assets: $5.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF, and $10.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Long-Term Treasury ETF.
Pair scorecard
VGLT costs 0.37 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.4 points; VGLT is 1.6 times larger.
| Measure | JNK | VGLT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.7% | −6.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 38.8%, high on Aug 4, 2020 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid Index | Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.40% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $6.5bn | $10.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 4, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026 · 881 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: JNK against AGG, Dec 14, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026; VGLT against SCHQ, Oct 18, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026.
JNK returned more: +137.0% to +46.2%. JNK swung less: 9.0% to 12.7%. JNK fell less at its worst: −21.4% to −45.6%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | JNK | VGLT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +137.0% | +46.2% | JNK | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +5.2% | +2.3% | JNK | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −19.4% | −13.0% | VGLT | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 9.0% | 12.7% | JNK | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 6.3% | 9.1% | JNK | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −21.4% | −45.6% | JNK | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 54.4% | 99.5% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 35.8% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.16 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.24 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.44 | 0.12 | JNK | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.64 | 0.17 | JNK | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.035 | −0.058 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.24 | 0.05 | JNK | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGG | SCHQ | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +2.4% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.94 | −0.24 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.6% to +7.4% | −0.4% to +0.3% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.24 | −0.04 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 11.1% | 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, 881 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, JNK and VGLT hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
JNK and VGLT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
JNK and VGLT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. JNK follows Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid Index and VGLT follows Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and May 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 JNK returned +1.7% and VGLT −6.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 8.4 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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JNK
JNK tracks the Bloomberg High Yield Bond. 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 0.40% a year.
VGLT
VGLT tracks an index of Long-term Treasury. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −6.7% with distributions reinvested, against −6.7% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 38.8% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, JNK or VGLT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, JNK returned +1.7% and VGLT −6.7%.
- Which is cheaper, JNK or VGLT?
- VGLT is cheaper, by 0.37 percentage points a year. That is about $37 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, JNK against VGLT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/jnk-vs-vglt
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