Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SPSB vs VCSH: Differences, Returns & Fees
SPSB's duration was 1.8 years on Jun 30, 2026 and VCSH's 2.7 on May 31, 2026; VCSH charges 0.03% to SPSB's 0.04%.
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Net assets: $11.3bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR Portfolio Short Term Corporate Bond ETF, and $43.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
VCSH costs 0.01 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.9 points; VCSH is 4.0 times larger.
| Measure | SPSB | VCSH |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +2.2% | +1.3% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg U.S. 1-3 Year Corporate Bond Index | Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Corporate Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.04% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $11.1bn | $43.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 40% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 24, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026 · 878 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SPSB against AGG, Dec 24, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026; VCSH against SCHJ, Oct 18, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026.
VCSH returned more: +59.8% to +47.3%. SPSB swung less: 3.0% to 3.5%. SPSB fell less at its worst: −9.9% to −11.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SPSB | VCSH | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +47.3% | +59.8% | VCSH | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +2.3% | +2.8% | VCSH | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −1.4% | +2.9% | VCSH | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 3.0% | 3.5% | SPSB | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 2.1% | 2.5% | SPSB | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −9.9% | −11.3% | SPSB | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 30.3% | 98.3% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 20.4% | 98.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.39 | 0.95 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.36 | 0.99 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.27 | 0.37 | VCSH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.39 | 0.52 | VCSH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.020 | −0.003 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.23 | 0.25 | VCSH (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | AGG | SCHJ | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.4% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.78 | −0.29 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.7% to +1.6% | −0.4% to +0.3% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.03 | −0.06 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.6% | 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, 878 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SPSB and VCSH hold 40% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.
half
40% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SPSB and VCSH on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SPSB and VCSH are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. SPSB follows Bloomberg U.S. 1-3 Year Corporate Bond Index and VCSH follows Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Corporate Bond Index.
- Holdings in common. 40% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and May 31, 2026).
- Size. SPSB has $11.1bn in net assets and VCSH $43.9bn (net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026); VCSH is 4.0 times larger.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SPSB
SPSB tracks an index of Short Term Corporate Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.2% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% a year.
VCSH
VCSH tracks an index of Short-Term Corporate Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.3% with distributions reinvested, against +1.3% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Corporate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SPSB or VCSH?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPSB returned +2.2% and VCSH +1.3%.
- Which is cheaper, SPSB or VCSH?
- VCSH is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 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, SPSB against VCSH, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spsb-vs-vcsh
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