Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PTRB vs SMTH: Differences, Returns & Fees
PTRB's duration was 5.9 years on May 29, 2026 and SMTH's 6.2 on May 31, 2026; PTRB charges 0.49% to SMTH's 0.59%.
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Net assets: $1.2bn on Oct 27, 2026 for PGIM Total Return Bond ETF, and $2.7bn on May 31, 2026 for ALPS Smith Core Plus Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
PTRB costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.1 points.
| Measure | PTRB | SMTH |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −1.6% | −1.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.2%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.59% |
| Net assets, PTRB as of Oct 27, 2026 and SMTH as of May 31, 2026 | $1.2bn | $2.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 3% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 29, 2026 and May 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 15, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 149 weekly returns · each against AGGPTRB returned slightly more: +9.7% to +9.1%. SMTH swung slightly less: 4.6% to 4.9%. SMTH fell slightly less at its worst: −4.6% to −4.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PTRB | SMTH | AGG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +9.7% | +9.1% | PTRB (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +3.3% | +3.1% | PTRB (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | −4.2% | −4.1% | SMTH (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 4.9% | 4.6% | SMTH (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 3.7% | 3.4% | SMTH (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −4.9% | −4.6% | SMTH (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 104.1% | 96.9% | 100.0% | PTRB (slight) | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 100.0% | 94.8% | 100.0% | SMTH (slight) | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 1.01 | 0.93 | 1.00 | SMTH lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.96 | 0.97 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | −0.22 | −0.28 | PTRB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | −0.29 | −0.37 | PTRB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | −0.011 | −0.014 | −0.016 | PTRB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.67 | 0.67 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | AGG | AGG | AGG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.5% a year | +0.2% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.89 | 0.37 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −0.6% to +1.6% | −0.8% to +1.2% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.52 | 0.32 | PTRB | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.0% | 0.9% | 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, 149 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, PTRB and SMTH hold 3% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 29, 2026 and May 31, 2026.
half
3% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
PTRB and SMTH on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PTRB and SMTH are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Holdings in common. 3% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated May 29, 2026 and May 31, 2026).
- Cost. PTRB charges 0.49% of assets a year and SMTH 0.59%, a gap of 0.10 points.
- What each follows (similar). Both follow No index, actively managed.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
SMTH
SMTH is actively managed and tracks no index. 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 0.59% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, PTRB or SMTH?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PTRB returned −1.6% and SMTH −1.7%.
- Which is cheaper, PTRB or SMTH?
- PTRB is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 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, PTRB against SMTH, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ptrb-vs-smth
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). PTRB against SMTH. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ptrb-vs-smth
[PTRB against SMTH (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ptrb-vs-smth)
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