Which returned more over the last year, MEAR or VTES?

In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MEAR returned +1.4% and VTES 0.0%.

Which is cheaper, MEAR or VTES?

VTES is cheaper, by 0.21 percentage points a year. That is about $21 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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MEAR vs VTES: Differences, Returns & Fees

MEAR's duration was 1.3 years on Jul 31, 2026 and VTES's 2.8 on May 31, 2026; VTES charges 0.05% to MEAR's 0.26%. Net assets: $1.4bn on Oct 9, 2026 for iShares Short Maturity Municipal Bond Active ETF, and $3.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Bond ETF.

VTES costs 0.21 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.4 points; VTES is 2.5 times larger.

	MEAR	VTES
Expense ratio	0.26%	0.05%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$1.5bn	$3.6bn
Total return, 1 year	+1.4%	0.0%
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	S&P 0-7 Year National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index
Holdings in common	0%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.

+1.4%

MEAR total return, 1 year

0.0%

VTES total return, 1 year

0.26%

MEAR expense ratio

0.05%

VTES expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, MEAR and VTES hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.

50%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding MEAR VTES

State of Washington, Series R-2024C, due Aug 1, 2029 0.19% 0.10%

Allen Independent School District, Series 2025A, due Feb 15, 2027 0.15% 0.05%

Oklahoma City Public Property Authority, Series 2026, due Jun 1, 2030 0.37% 0.05%

Plano Independent School District, Series 2025, due Feb 15, 2029 0.35% 0.03%

Great Lakes Water Authority Water Supply System, Series 2026D, due Jul 1, 2056 0.15% 0.03%

State of Illinois, Series 2024B, due May 1, 2028 0.12% 0.03%

Development Authority of Burke County (The), Series 1994, due Oct 1, 2032 0.28% 0.02%

Oregon State Lottery, Series 2025A, due Apr 1, 2028 0.53% 0.02%

Texas Transportation Commission, Series 2026, due Apr 1, 2031 0.24% 0.02%

City of Atlanta Water & Wastewater, Series 2026, due Nov 1, 2030 0.18% 0.02%

State of California, due Mar 1, 2030 0.18% 0.01%

Only in MEAR

Parish of St. James, Series 2010B-1, due Nov 1, 2040 2.25%

Iowa Finance Authority, Series 2021, due Dec 1, 2041 2.18%

Main Street Natural Gas, Inc., Series 2023A, due Jun 1, 2053 1.90%

PEFA, Inc., Series 2019, due Sep 1, 2049 1.78%

Texas Municipal Gas Acquisition & Supply Corp. IV, Series 2023A, due Jan 1, 2054 1.72%

City of Burlington, Series 2007A, due Sep 1, 2035 1.62%

South Dakota Housing Development Authority, Series 2025G, due Nov 1, 2050 1.50%

Kentucky Public Energy Authority, Series 2025A, due Jun 1, 2055 1.39%

Only in VTES

NYC TRANSITIONAL-G-1, due Nov 1, 2029 0.27%

CALIFORNIA ST-REF, due Aug 1, 2030 0.25%

NEW JERSEY ST ECON DE, due Jun 15, 2042 0.23%

DALLAS ISD-B, due Feb 15, 2056 0.23%

ILLINOIS ST-D, due Nov 1, 2027 0.23%

NEW JERSEY ST-A, due Jun 1, 2028 0.22%

NEW JERSEY ST TRANSPR, due Jun 15, 2028 0.22%

LOS ANGELES UNIF SD-A, due Jul 1, 2032 0.21%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

MEAR

iShares Short Maturity Municipal Bond Active ETF

VTES

Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Bond ETF

Where it sits Bond ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Actively managed Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +1.4% 0.0%

S&P 500 over the same days +17.3% +17.3%

Gap to the S&P 500 −15.8 pts −17.2 pts

Expense ratio 0.26% 0.05%

Holdings 351 3443

Net assets, MEAR as of Oct 9, 2026 and VTES as of Sep 30, 2026 $1.4bn $3.6bn

MEAR and VTES on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

MEAR in plain words

MEAR is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +1.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.26% a year.

VTES in plain words

VTES tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned 0.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.05% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, MEAR or VTES?: In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MEAR returned +1.4% and VTES 0.0%.
Which is cheaper, MEAR or VTES?: VTES is cheaper, by 0.21 percentage points a year. That is about $21 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

MEAR vs TAFI MEAR vs SHM JMST vs MEAR CGSM vs MEAR CGSM vs VTES SMMU vs VTES SHM vs VTES JMST vs VTES

MEAR on its own →VTES on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

MEAR filings on SEC EDGAR ↗MEAR prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗iShares page for MEAR ↗VTES filings on SEC EDGAR ↗VTES prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Vanguard page for VTES ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. 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, MEAR against VTES, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mear-vs-vtes

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.