Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SHY vs VGLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
SHY's duration was 1.8 years on Aug 31, 2026 and VGLT's 13.5 on May 31, 2026; VGLT charges 0.03% to SHY's 0.15%.
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Net assets: $27.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF, and $10.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Long-Term Treasury ETF.
Pair scorecard
VGLT costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.3 points; SHY is 2.5 times larger.
| Measure | SHY | VGLT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.6% | −6.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 38.8%, high on Aug 4, 2020 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index | Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $26.3bn | $10.4bn |
| 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: SHY against BBSB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; VGLT against SCHQ, Oct 18, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026.
VGLT returned more: +46.2% to +25.3%. SHY swung less: 1.3% to 12.7%. SHY fell less at its worst: −5.6% to −45.6%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SHY | VGLT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +25.3% | +46.2% | VGLT | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +1.3% | +2.3% | VGLT | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −2.3% | −13.0% | SHY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.3% | 12.7% | SHY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 0.9% | 9.1% | SHY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −5.6% | −45.6% | SHY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 97.9% | 99.5% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.8% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.98 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.98 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.15 | 0.12 | VGLT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.22 | 0.17 | VGLT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.012 | −0.058 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.24 | 0.05 | SHY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | BBSB | SCHQ | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.96 | −0.24 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.1% | −0.4% to +0.3% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.43 | −0.04 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.2% | 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, SHY and VGLT 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
SHY and VGLT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SHY and VGLT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. SHY follows ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index and VGLT follows Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and May 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SHY returned +1.6% and VGLT −6.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 8.3 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SHY
SHY tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.6% with distributions reinvested, against +1.7% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% 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, SHY or VGLT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SHY returned +1.6% and VGLT −6.7%.
- Which is cheaper, SHY or VGLT?
- VGLT is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, SHY against VGLT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-vglt
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SHY against VGLT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-vglt
[SHY against VGLT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-vglt)
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