Vanguard Ultra-Short Treasury ETF
$75.58−0.00 (−0.00%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.07%
- Fund size
- $1.1B
- 1Y return
- +3.6%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 3.58%
- Holdings
- 93
- Volume · 30D
- 0.2M sh
- NAV per share
- $75.56
- 52W range
The ETF.net VGUS Grade
Score 77 of 100 sits in the A band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.AScore 89Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 100Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.CScore 44Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.BScore 67Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.BScore 60Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.BScore 69Category rank
Our read on VGUS
AA one-ticker parking spot at the very front of the Treasury curve: about 90 bills and short notes, passively sampled, income paid monthly. Vanguard opened it in 2025 at 0.07%, under the typical Treasury fund in its peer group.
Vanguard says the fund seeks to track a market-weighted Treasury index with an ultra-short dollar-weighted average maturity. It uses passive index sampling and generally invests at least 80% of assets in securities in, or economically similar to, the index.
Why people hold it
- 0.07% a year against a 0.12% median for Treasury funds in its peer group. Fees bite hardest at the short end, where there is no duration cushion to hide them.
- Government paper only: roughly 90 US Treasuries sampled against the Bloomberg Short Treasury Index. No corporate credit, no mortgages, no derivatives overlay.
- Tracking has been tight since launch, and the mandate is plain: at least 80% in index securities or economic equivalents. What it says on the tin is what it holds.
- Pays monthly and slots into Vanguard's Treasury shelf next to VGIT and VTG, so you can move along the maturity ladder without leaving the lineup.
Worth knowing
- Not the cheapest ticker on Vanguard's own bond shelf: VGIT and VTG run 0.03%. The ultra-short slice costs a few extra basis points.
- Ultra-short maturities mean income resets as short-term rates move, up or down. This is a cash-management tool, not a bet on falling yields.
- A 2025 launch, so the history is short and trading is moderate rather than heavy. Worth eyeing the spread on large orders in the first and last minutes of the day.
VGUS Holdings
- Bonds
- 93
- 28%
- United States Treasury Bill 10/08/2026
Geography
- United States100.00%
VGUS Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Returns run to the Sep 23, 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 | VGUS |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +2.5% |
| 1 month | +0.2% |
| 3 months | +0.9% |
| 1 year | +3.6% |
| 3 years | — |
| 5 years | — |
| 10 years | — |
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 | VGUS |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +2.5% | |
| 2025 | +3.8% |
VGUS in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on VGUS yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
VGUS Dividends
- 3.58%
- $2.70
- $0.23 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2026 | Sep 3, 2026 | $0.23 |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Aug 5, 2026 | $0.23 |
| Jul 1, 2026 | Jul 6, 2026 | $0.22 |
| Jun 1, 2026 | Jun 3, 2026 | $0.22 |
| May 1, 2026 | May 5, 2026 | $0.22 |
| Apr 1, 2026 | Apr 6, 2026 | $0.22 |
| Mar 2, 2026 | Mar 4, 2026 | $0.19 |
| Feb 2, 2026 | Feb 4, 2026 | $0.22 |
| Dec 18, 2025 | Dec 22, 2025 | $0.23 |
| Dec 1, 2025 | Dec 3, 2025 | $0.23 |
| Nov 3, 2025 | Nov 5, 2025 | $0.24 |
| Oct 1, 2025 | Oct 3, 2025 | $0.24 |
VGUS Risk
- 0.2%
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.
- −0.68
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.
- −0.1%
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.
- −0.01
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
VGUS Cost
- The middle half of Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds
- Median 0.19%
7 of the 77 Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds charge less.