Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
TIP vs VCIT: Differences, Returns & Fees
TIP's duration was 6.3 years on Jul 31, 2026 and VCIT's 6.0 on May 31, 2026; VCIT charges 0.03% to TIP's 0.18%.
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Net assets: $14.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares TIPS Bond ETF, and $66.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
VCIT costs 0.15 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.8 points; VCIT is 4.7 times larger.
| Measure | TIP | VCIT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −1.0% | −1.8% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.2%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | ICE U.S. Treasury Inflation Linked Bond Index | Bloomberg U.S. 5-10 Year Corporate Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.18% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $14.2bn | $66.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 4, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026 · 881 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: TIP against VTP, Jul 18, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026; VCIT against SCHI, Oct 18, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026.
VCIT returned more: +96.4% to +57.6%. TIP swung less: 5.4% to 6.4%. TIP fell less at its worst: −14.2% to −20.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | TIP | VCIT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +57.6% | +96.4% | VCIT | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +2.7% | +4.1% | VCIT | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +1.3% | +5.1% | VCIT | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 5.4% | 6.4% | TIP | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 4.0% | 4.7% | TIP | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −14.2% | −20.0% | TIP | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.7% | 99.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 101.8% | 99.6% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.99 | 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 | 0.24 | 0.42 | VCIT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.33 | 0.57 | VCIT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.023 | −0.008 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.19 | 0.20 | VCIT (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VTP | SCHI | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.2% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.56 | −0.22 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.0% to +0.6% | −0.4% to +0.3% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.45 | −0.08 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.4% | 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, TIP and VCIT hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
TIP and VCIT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
TIP and VCIT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. TIP follows ICE U.S. Treasury Inflation Linked Bond Index and VCIT follows Bloomberg U.S. 5-10 Year Corporate Bond Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and May 31, 2026).
- Number of holdings. TIP holds 48 positions and VCIT holds 2340.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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TIP
TIP tracks an index of TIPS Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.0% with distributions reinvested, against −0.8% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury Inflation Linked Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year.
VCIT
VCIT tracks an index of Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.8% with distributions reinvested, against −1.8% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. 5-10 Year Corporate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 3.2% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, TIP or VCIT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, TIP returned −1.0% and VCIT −1.8%.
- Which is cheaper, TIP or VCIT?
- VCIT is cheaper, by 0.15 percentage points a year. That is about $15 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, TIP against VCIT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/tip-vs-vcit
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). TIP against VCIT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/tip-vs-vcit
[TIP against VCIT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/tip-vs-vcit)
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