Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF

BSV

Market cap $44.6B

Short-term investment-grade bond strategies, with durations in the two-to-three-year range, are well positioned to capture a meaningful yield advantage without the rate sensitivity that has challenged longer duration strategies in recent months. The yield to worst on a diversified short-term bond portfolio currently sits between 4.5% and 5.0%, more than 100 basis points above what bank savings accounts and government money market funds are currently yielding. Although the path for rates is highly uncertain, the range of outcomes in which short-term bonds outperform cash is considerably wider than the range in which they don't.

Both funds charge the same very low expense ratio and offer identical 3.9% yields as of mid-April 2026. BSV is larger, holds fewer bonds, and has outperformed VGSH over the past year, but with a deeper historical drawdown.

BSV charges a slightly lower expense ratio and delivers a higher yield than SMB. SMB and BSV both focus on short-duration bonds, but BSV's portfolio is far more concentrated and much larger in assets under management.

Both ETFs charge the same low expense ratio, but VCSH offers a higher yield than BSV. VCSH has delivered stronger one-year and five-year total returns, though BSV has seen a slightly smaller maximum drawdown.

Both funds offer extremely low fees and near-identical yields, but Schwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETF holds a much larger asset base. BSV delivered a higher one-year return but also experienced a steeper five-year drawdown than SCHO.

BSV is less expensive to own and manages much more in assets than ISTB ISTB delivered a higher 1-year return and slightly higher yield compared to BSV Both funds stick to short-term bonds but differ in portfolio breadth and minor risk metrics

IGSB has delivered a higher 1-year total return and yield compared to BSV. BSV holds a much smaller number of bonds but has three times the assets under management.

Both ETFs charge a rock-bottom 0.03% expense ratio and focus on short-term, investment-grade bonds VCSH offers a higher yield and slightly better five-year risk-adjusted returns, while BSV holds a broader mix of government and corporate bonds BSV is larger by assets under management and trades with extremely high liquidity We're bullish on these 10 stocks ›

Both funds charge an identical low expense ratio, but BSV is much larger by assets under management (AUM). BSV holds a broader mix of government and investment-grade corporate bonds, while VGSH sticks to Treasuries only.

BSV charges a slightly lower expense ratio than IGSB and manages over three times the assets under management (AUM). IGSB delivered a marginally higher 1-year total return and yield, but both ETFs have similar sector exposures.