Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SHY vs VOX: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SHY returned +1.6% to VOX's −5.7%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $27.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF, and $6.0bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Communication Services ETF.
Pair scorecard
VOX costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.3 points; SHY is 4.4 times larger.
| Measure | SHY | VOX |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.6% | −5.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 10.8%, high on Jan 29, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index | MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Communication Services 25/50 |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $26.3bn | $6.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 84% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 71.1% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Oct 8, 2004 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,150 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SHY against BBSB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; VOX against FCOM, Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
VOX returned more: +478.6% to +52.3%. SHY swung less: 1.4% to 19.7%. SHY fell less at its worst: −5.6% to −54.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SHY | VOX | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +52.3% | +478.6% | VOX | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +1.9% | +8.3% | VOX | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −0.6% | +252.8% | VOX | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.4% | 19.7% | SHY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 0.9% | 13.6% | SHY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −5.6% | −54.8% | SHY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 97.9% | 93.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.8% | 99.4% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.98 | 0.98 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.98 | 0.97 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.06 | 0.41 | VOX | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.09 | 0.59 | VOX | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.012 | 0.078 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.34 | 0.15 | SHY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | BBSB | FCOM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | −1.9% a year | SHY not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.96 | −2.16 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.1% | −3.6% to −0.2% | SHY includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.43 | −0.67 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.2% | 3.1% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,150 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SHY and VOX hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SHY and VOX on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SHY and VOX 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 VOX follows MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Communication Services 25/50.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SHY returned +1.6% and VOX −5.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 7.3 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.
VOX
VOX tracks an index of Communication Services. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −5.7% with distributions reinvested, against −5.9% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Communication Services 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 84% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 113 positions, with the top ten at 71.1%. It sat 10.8% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SHY or VOX?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SHY returned +1.6% and VOX −5.7%.
- Which is cheaper, SHY or VOX?
- VOX is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 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, SHY against VOX, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-vox
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SHY against VOX. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-vox
[SHY against VOX (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-vox)
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