Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
TLT vs VGSH: Differences, Returns & Fees
TLT's duration was 15.1 years on Aug 31, 2026 and VGSH's 1.8 on May 31, 2026; VGSH charges 0.03% to TLT's 0.15%.
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Net assets: $47.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, and $35.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF.
Pair scorecard
VGSH costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 9.6 points; TLT is 1.3 times larger.
| Measure | TLT | VGSH |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −7.9% | +1.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 42.6%, high on Aug 4, 2020 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index | Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $46.2bn | $35.1bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 4, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026 · 881 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: TLT against BBLB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; VGSH against SCHO, Aug 13, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
TLT returned more: +43.5% to +26.7%. VGSH swung less: 1.3% to 13.9%. VGSH fell less at its worst: −5.5% to −47.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | TLT | VGSH | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +43.5% | +26.7% | TLT | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +2.2% | +1.4% | TLT | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −12.9% | −3.7% | VGSH | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 13.9% | 1.3% | VGSH | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 9.9% | 0.9% | VGSH | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −47.8% | −5.5% | VGSH | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 102.4% | 97.7% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 101.2% | 96.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.01 | 0.98 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.94 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.11 | −0.09 | TLT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.16 | −0.14 | TLT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.072 | −0.002 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.05 | 0.26 | VGSH | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | BBLB | SCHO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.01 | 0.22 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.8% to +0.8% | −0.1% to +0.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.10 | 0.07 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.7% | 0.3% | 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, TLT and VGSH hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
TLT and VGSH on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
TLT and VGSH do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. TLT follows ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index and VGSH follows Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and May 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 TLT returned −7.9% and VGSH +1.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 9.6 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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TLT
TLT tracks an index of 20+ year Treasuries. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −7.9% with distributions reinvested, against −7.8% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. It sat 42.6% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.
VGSH
VGSH tracks an index of Short-Term Treasury. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.7% with distributions reinvested, against +1.8% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, TLT or VGSH?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, TLT returned −7.9% and VGSH +1.7%.
- Which is cheaper, TLT or VGSH?
- VGSH is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, TLT against VGSH, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/tlt-vs-vgsh
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). TLT against VGSH. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/tlt-vs-vgsh
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