Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
LQD vs VGIT: Differences, Returns & Fees
LQD's duration was 7.7 years on Aug 31, 2026 and VGIT's 4.7 on May 31, 2026; VGIT charges 0.03% to LQD's 0.14%.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about LQD and VGIT
Net assets: $30.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, and $39.7bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF.
Pair scorecard
VGIT costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.9 points; VGIT is 1.4 times larger.
| Measure | LQD | VGIT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −3.4% | −1.5% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.3%, high on Sep 22, 2021 | 3.5%, high on Aug 4, 2020 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index | Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 3-10 Year Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.14% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $28.3bn | $39.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 4, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026 · 881 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: LQD against IUSB, Jun 20, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026; VGIT against SCHR, Aug 13, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
LQD returned more: +83.2% to +41.4%. VGIT swung less: 4.2% to 8.5%. VGIT fell less at its worst: −15.6% to −24.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | LQD | VGIT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +83.2% | +41.4% | LQD | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +3.6% | +2.1% | LQD | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −1.9% | −4.2% | LQD | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 8.5% | 4.2% | VGIT | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 6.0% | 2.9% | VGIT | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −24.7% | −15.6% | VGIT | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 157.4% | 98.1% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 143.3% | 98.6% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.70 | 0.98 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.84 | 0.99 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.28 | 0.15 | LQD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.40 | 0.21 | LQD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.005 | 0.002 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.15 | 0.13 | LQD | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IUSB | SCHR | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.7% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.64 | −0.10 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +2.8% | −0.2% to +0.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.14 | −0.03 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 5.2% | 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, LQD and VGIT hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
LQD and VGIT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
LQD and VGIT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. LQD follows Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index and VGIT follows Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 3-10 Year Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and May 31, 2026).
- Number of holdings. LQD holds 3,191 positions and VGIT holds 103.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
LQD
LQD tracks an index of US investment grade bonds. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.4% with distributions reinvested, against −1.2% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.14% a year. It sat 6.3% below its high of Sep 22, 2021 on Oct 28, 2026.
VGIT
VGIT tracks an index of Intermediate-Term Treasury. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.5% with distributions reinvested, against −1.5% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 3-10 Year Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 3.5% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, LQD or VGIT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, LQD returned −3.4% and VGIT −1.5%.
- Which is cheaper, LQD or VGIT?
- VGIT is cheaper, by 0.11 percentage points a year. That is about $11 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, LQD against VGIT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/lqd-vs-vgit
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). LQD against VGIT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/lqd-vs-vgit
[LQD against VGIT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/lqd-vs-vgit)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.