Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SHY vs VUSB: Differences, Returns & Fees
SHY's duration was 1.8 years on Aug 31, 2026 and VUSB's 1.0 on Jun 30, 2026; VUSB charges 0.10% 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 $9.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
VUSB costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.9 points; SHY is 2.7 times larger.
| Measure | SHY | VUSB |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.6% | +3.5% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.10% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $26.3bn | $9.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 1% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 16, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026 · 288 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SHY against BBSB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; VUSB against AGG, Apr 16, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026.
VUSB returned more: +20.0% to +9.6%. VUSB swung less: 0.8% to 1.8%. VUSB fell less at its worst: −1.7% to −5.6%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SHY | VUSB | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +9.6% | +20.0% | VUSB | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +1.7% | +3.3% | VUSB | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −5.5% | −1.0% | VUSB | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.8% | 0.8% | VUSB | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 1.4% | 0.6% | VUSB | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −5.6% | −1.7% | VUSB | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 97.9% | 17.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.8% | −1.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.98 | 0.10 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.98 | 0.45 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −1.05 | −0.33 | VUSB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −1.39 | −0.45 | VUSB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.012 | −0.027 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.30 | 1.96 | VUSB | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | BBSB | AGG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | +0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.96 | 0.27 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.1% | −0.4% to +0.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.43 | 0.63 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.2% | 5.1% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 288 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SHY and VUSB hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
1% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SHY and VUSB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SHY and VUSB 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 VUSB follows No index, actively managed.
- Holdings in common. 1% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026).
- Number of holdings. SHY holds 90 positions and VUSB holds 1344.
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.
VUSB
VUSB is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +3.5% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.10% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SHY or VUSB?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SHY returned +1.6% and VUSB +3.5%.
- Which is cheaper, SHY or VUSB?
- VUSB is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 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, SHY against VUSB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-vusb
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SHY against VUSB. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-vusb
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