Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SPSB vs VUSB: Differences, Returns & Fees
On Jun 30, 2026 SPSB's duration was 1.8 years and VUSB's 1.0; SPSB charges 0.04% to VUSB's 0.10%.
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Net assets: $11.3bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR Portfolio Short Term Corporate Bond ETF, and $9.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPSB costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.3 points; SPSB is 1.1 times larger.
| Measure | SPSB | VUSB |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +2.2% | +3.5% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg U.S. 1-3 Year Corporate Bond Index | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.04% | 0.10% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $11.1bn | $9.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 18% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 16, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026 · 288 weekly returns · each against AGGVUSB returned more: +20.0% to +15.2%. VUSB swung less: 0.8% to 1.8%. VUSB fell less at its worst: −1.7% to −5.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SPSB | VUSB | AGG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +15.2% | +20.0% | VUSB | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +2.6% | +3.3% | VUSB | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | −5.2% | −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 | 1.3% | 0.6% | VUSB | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −5.8% | −1.7% | VUSB | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 30.0% | 17.4% | 100.0% | SPSB | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 19.6% | −1.3% | 100.0% | VUSB | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.27 | 0.10 | 1.00 | VUSB lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.71 | 0.45 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | −0.55 | −0.33 | VUSB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | −0.74 | −0.45 | VUSB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | −0.036 | −0.027 | −0.035 | VUSB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.45 | 1.96 | VUSB | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | AGG | AGG | AGG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | +0.1% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.12 | 0.27 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −0.9% to +0.8% | −0.4% to +0.6% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.59 | 0.63 | VUSB (slight) | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.2% | 5.1% | 0.0% | 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, SPSB and VUSB hold 18% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026.
half
18% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SPSB and VUSB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SPSB and VUSB do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. SPSB follows Bloomberg U.S. 1-3 Year Corporate Bond Index and VUSB follows No index, actively managed.
- Holdings in common. 18% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026).
- One-year total return (similar). Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SPSB returned +2.2% and VUSB +3.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 1.3 points.
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.
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, SPSB or VUSB?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPSB returned +2.2% and VUSB +3.5%.
- Which is cheaper, SPSB or VUSB?
- SPSB 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.
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ETFIQ, SPSB against VUSB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spsb-vs-vusb
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SPSB against VUSB. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spsb-vs-vusb
[SPSB against VUSB (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spsb-vs-vusb)
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