BBBL vs VCLT

BBBLCBondBloxx BBB Rated 10+ Year Corporate Bond ETF

VCLTAVanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF

In short

BBBL Most corporate bond funds hand you the entire ratings ladder. BBBL takes one rung and one maturity band: BBB-rated corporate paper maturing in 10 years or more. A single-cell tool for people who want to set credit and duration themselves.

VCLT The long end of investment-grade credit, held plain. VCLT tracks an index of corporate bonds with 10+ years left to run, costs three cents per $100 a year, and pays monthly. Maximum rate sensitivity, minimum toll.

Stated mandate

BBBL The Fund seeks to track the Bloomberg US Corporate BBB 10+ Year Index before fees and expenses. The index covers BBB-rated, fixed-rate, taxable, U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds with remaining maturities of at least ten years.

VCLT VCLT seeks to follow a market-weighted corporate bond index with long-term average maturity. It uses passive index sampling, maintains maturity consistent with the index, and normally invests at least 80% of assets in index bonds.

Why people hold it

• BBBL Pure slice, no blending: BBB-rated, fixed-rate, dollar-denominated corporate bonds with at least ten years left to run. The label and the portfolio say the same thing.
• 0.19% a year sits right at the median for investment-grade corporate ETFs, so the narrow mandate does not carry a specialist markup.
• Distributions land monthly, matching how most household bills arrive rather than a quarterly drip.

• VCLT 0.03% a year against a 0.19% median for investment-grade corporate bond funds. On a position held for years, that gap is real money.
• The pure long lane: the Bloomberg U.S. 10+ Year Corporate Bond Index, while cohort leaders like VCIT, IGIB and IGSB sit short or intermediate.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so entering and exiting rarely means fighting the spread.
• Boringly mechanical, which is the point: index sampling, at least 80% of assets in index bonds, monthly distributions, running since 2009.

Worth knowing

• BBBL Ten-year-plus maturities are the sharp end of rate sensitivity. Price moves per rate shift are far larger here than in short or intermediate corporate funds.
• BBB is the bottom rung of investment grade, one notch above high yield, so downgrade risk sits closer than in AA or A portfolios.
• Small and lightly traded next to broad corporate giants like VCIT and IGIB, which also charge a few basis points. Spreads can be wider on this one.

• VCLT Long maturities swing hard when rates move. This is one of the most rate-sensitive corners of investment-grade credit.
• Corporate credit only, roughly 300 bonds. No Treasuries and no short-maturity ballast to cushion a rough stretch.
• Sampling means it holds a representative slice of the index rather than every bond in it.

Full BBBL profile⁠

Full VCLT profile⁠