Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Bond ETF
$98.87−0.42 (−0.43%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.05%
- Fund size
- $2.4B
- 1Y return
- −0.2%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 2.75%
- Holdings
- 2667
- Volume · 30D
- 0.3M sh
- NAV per share
- $99.30
- 52W range
The ETF.net VTES Grade
Score 79 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 98Category 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.DScore 32Category 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 64Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 83Category rank
Our read on VTES
AVanguard's muni ETF on a short leash: an AMT-free tax-exempt index, but capped at seven years to trim interest-rate sensitivity. Five basis points, roughly 2,700 bonds, income paid monthly.
The Fund seeks to track an index representing investment-grade U.S. municipal bonds with remaining maturities from one month through seven years.
Why people hold it
- Costs 0.05% a year, a fraction of what the typical muni-bond fund in its category charges. One of the cheapest ways into tax-exempt bonds.
- Maturities run one month to seven years, so the portfolio moves less on rate swings than long-dated muni funds. Short duration is the whole point here.personal.vanguard.com
- The index is AMT-free national investment-grade munis, so interest is federally tax-exempt and not caught by the alternative minimum tax.corporate.vanguard.com
- Roughly 2,700 bonds via index sampling, run by Vanguard's fixed income group, with distributions paid monthly. It tracks its benchmark closely.workplace.vanguard.com
Worth knowing
- Short maturities cut both ways. Vanguard's own materials describe moderate current income, the trade-off for less rate sensitivity than longer muni portfolios.workplace.vanguard.com
- It's a national fund, so it isn't structured to shelter state income tax the way single-state muni ETFs such as NYF are.
- Launched in 2023, it has a shorter live record than muni ETFs that have been trading for over a decade, including its broader sibling VTEB.
VTES Holdings
- Bonds
- 2,667
- 9%
- Vanguard Municipal Low Duration Fund 12/31/2049
VTES 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 22, 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 | VTES |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −0.5% |
| 1 month | −1.3% |
| 3 months | −1.2% |
| 1 year | −0.2% |
| 3 years | +2.8% |
| 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 | VTES |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −0.5% | |
| 2025 | +4.2% | |
| 2024 | +1.8% | |
| 2023 | +3.5% |
VTES in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on VTES yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
VTES Dividends
- 2.75%
- $2.73
- $0.21 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2026 | Sep 3, 2026 | $0.21 |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Aug 5, 2026 | $0.22 |
| Jul 1, 2026 | Jul 6, 2026 | $0.23 |
| Jun 1, 2026 | Jun 3, 2026 | $0.22 |
| May 1, 2026 | May 5, 2026 | $0.23 |
| Apr 1, 2026 | Apr 6, 2026 | $0.22 |
| Mar 2, 2026 | Mar 4, 2026 | $0.24 |
| Feb 2, 2026 | Feb 4, 2026 | $0.22 |
| Dec 24, 2025 | Dec 29, 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 |
VTES Risk
- 2.3%
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.
- −0.63
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.
- −2.4%
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.
- 0.37
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
VTES Cost
- The middle half of Short-Duration Municipal Bonds funds
- Median 0.25%
No Short-Duration Municipal Bonds fund charges less.