Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PTRB vs VPLS: Differences, Returns & Fees
PTRB's duration was 5.9 years on May 29, 2026 and VPLS's 5.4 on Jun 30, 2026; VPLS charges 0.20% to PTRB's 0.49%.
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Net assets: $1.2bn on Oct 27, 2026 for PGIM Total Return Bond ETF, and $2.0bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Core-Plus Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
VPLS costs 0.29 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.6 points.
| Measure | PTRB | VPLS |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −1.6% | −1.0% |
| 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% | 0.20% |
| Net assets, PTRB as of Oct 27, 2026 and VPLS as of Sep 30, 2026 | $1.2bn | $2.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 4% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 29, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 15, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 149 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: PTRB against AGG, Dec 17, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026; VPLS against IUSB, Dec 15, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026.
VPLS returned slightly more: +10.7% to +9.7%. VPLS swung slightly less: 4.7% to 4.9%. VPLS fell less at its worst: −4.1% to −4.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PTRB | VPLS | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +9.7% | +10.7% | VPLS (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +3.3% | +3.6% | VPLS (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −4.2% | −2.6% | VPLS | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 4.9% | 4.7% | VPLS (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 3.7% | 3.5% | VPLS (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −4.9% | −4.1% | VPLS | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 101.3% | 102.5% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.6% | 99.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.01 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.96 | 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 | −0.040 | −0.007 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.67 | 0.88 | VPLS | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGG | IUSB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.2% a year | +0.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.43 | 1.40 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.9% to +1.3% | −0.2% to +1.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.21 | 0.80 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.2% | 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, 149 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, PTRB and VPLS hold 4% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 29, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.
half
4% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
PTRB and VPLS on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PTRB and VPLS are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Holdings in common. 4% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated May 29, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026).
- Cost. PTRB charges 0.49% of assets a year and VPLS 0.20%, a gap of 0.29 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.
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, PTRB or VPLS?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PTRB returned −1.6% and VPLS −1.0%.
- Which is cheaper, PTRB or VPLS?
- VPLS is cheaper, by 0.29 percentage points a year. That is about $29 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 VPLS, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ptrb-vs-vpls
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). PTRB against VPLS. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ptrb-vs-vpls
[PTRB against VPLS (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ptrb-vs-vpls)
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