Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
VCSH vs VSDB: Differences, Returns & Fees
VCSH's duration was 2.7 years on May 31, 2026 and VSDB's 2.5 on Jun 30, 2026; VCSH charges 0.03% to VSDB's 0.15%.
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Net assets on Sep 30, 2026: $43.9bn for Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF and $1.0bn for Vanguard Short Duration Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
VCSH costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.4 points; VCSH is far larger, $43.9bn against $1.0bn.
| Measure | VCSH | VSDB |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.3% | +1.7% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Corporate Bond Index | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $43.9bn | $1.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 11% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 11, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 80 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: VCSH against SCHJ, Oct 18, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026; VSDB against AGG, Apr 11, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026.
VSDB returned slightly more: +7.1% to +6.5%. VSDB swung slightly less: 1.8% to 1.9%. VCSH fell slightly less at its worst: −1.3% to −1.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | VCSH | VSDB | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +6.5% | +7.1% | VSDB (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.2% | +4.5% | VSDB (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −0.4% | +0.5% | VSDB | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.9% | 1.8% | VSDB (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 1.4% | 1.3% | VSDB (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −1.3% | −1.4% | VCSH (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 98.3% | 50.5% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 98.3% | 27.1% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.95 | 0.43 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.99 | 0.76 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.08 | 0.29 | VSDB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.11 | 0.40 | VSDB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.003 | 0.012 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 3.19 | 3.19 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SCHJ | AGG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | +0.8% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.29 | 1.16 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.3% | −0.6% to +2.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.06 | 0.54 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.5% | 2.3% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 80 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, VCSH and VSDB hold 11% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.
half
11% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
VCSH and VSDB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
VCSH and VSDB are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. VCSH follows Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Corporate Bond Index and VSDB follows No index, actively managed.
- Holdings in common. 11% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026).
- Cost. VCSH charges 0.03% of assets a year and VSDB 0.15%, a gap of 0.12 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
VSDB
VSDB is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.7% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, VCSH or VSDB?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VCSH returned +1.3% and VSDB +1.7%.
- Which is cheaper, VCSH or VSDB?
- VCSH 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.
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, VCSH against VSDB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/vcsh-vs-vsdb
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). VCSH against VSDB. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/vcsh-vs-vsdb
[VCSH against VSDB (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/vcsh-vs-vsdb)
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