Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF
$57.57+0.02 (+0.03%)
- 0.03%
- $39.3B
- +1.6%
- 3.79%
- 4.7M sh
- $57.54
- low $57.38high $59.01
The ETF.net VGSH Grade
A
Score 81 out of 100
- 1 of 15
Score 81 of 100 falls in the A band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.A89 out of 100Rank 1 of 15Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A100 out of 100Rank 1 of 14Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.D37 out of 100Rank 12 of 15Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A74 out of 100Rank 3 of 15Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.A81 out of 100Rank 3 of 15Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A93 out of 100Rank 1 of 15
Our read on VGSH
APlain one-to-three-year Treasuries for three basis points, running since 2009. No credit story, no active twist: VGSH owns the short end of the government curve and charges about as little as this category allows.
The fund seeks to track a market-weighted Treasury index with a short-term dollar-weighted average maturity.
Why people hold it
- 0.03% a year, against a 0.15% median for 1-3 year Treasury funds. Same fee floor as SCHO and SPTS, and a fifth of what SHY charges for the same slice of the curve.
- Sticks tightly to the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index, one of the closest-tracking implementations in its peer group.
- Roughly 90 US Treasury issues, sampled to match the index. No corporates, no mortgages, no derivatives overlay: the only credit question is the US Treasury itself.
- Pays monthly, and the income resets as short notes mature and newer ones roll in, so it moves with prevailing short-term rates. A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively.
Worth knowing
- Short maturities soften rate moves, they don't erase them. Prices still fall when yields rise, and the fund itself has no maturity date the way a single note does.
- At the short end the cost race is a tie, not a win: SCHO tracks the same index for the same 0.03%. Differences show up in trading and plumbing, not the fee line.
- Nothing here reaches for yield: no corporate credit, no inflation linkage, no long bonds. That narrowness is the design, and it behaves nothing like a core bond fund.
VGSH Holdings
- Bonds
- 95
- 14%
- United States Treasury Note/Bond 3.50% 01/31/2028
Geography
- United States100.00%
VGSH Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
VGSH$10,156
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | VGSH |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +0.7% |
| 1 month | +0.1% |
| 3 months | +0.1% |
| 1 year | +1.6% |
| 3 years | +4.1% |
| 5 years | +1.9% |
| 10 years | +1.7% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | VGSH |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +0.7% | |
| 2025 | +5.1% | |
| 2024 | +4.0% | |
| 2023 | +4.3% | |
| 2022 | −3.9% | |
| 2021 | −0.6% | |
| 2020 | +3.0% |
VGSH in the news
VGSH Dividends
- 3.79%
- $2.18
- $0.18 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
VGSH Risk
- 1.6%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- −0.34
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −5.4%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.23
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
VGSH Cost
0.03%
VGSH0.03%
- The middle half of Treasuries (1-3 Year) funds
- Median 0.15%
No Treasuries (1-3 Year) fund charges less.
Other funds in Treasuries (1-3 Year)
- ASCHOSchwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETFExpense ratio 0.03%1 year return +1.6%
- ASPTSState Street SPDR Portfolio Short Term Treasury ETFExpense ratio 0.03%1 year return +1.5%
- ABBSBJPMorgan BetaBuilders U.S. Treasury Bond 1-3 Year ETFExpense ratio 0.04%1 year return +1.5%
- BBOXXAlpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETFExpense ratio 0.24%1 year return +4.0%
- BXTWOBondBloxx Bloomberg Two Year Target Duration US Treasury ETFExpense ratio 0.05%1 year return +1.4%