JLQD vs VTC: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

Janus Henderson Corporate Bond ETF

JLQDCNYSE Arca

Vanguard Total Corporate Bond ETF

VTCANasdaq

Overlap

No data

Expense ratio

VTC −0.32pt a year

JLQD0.35%VTC0.03%

Avg volume · 30D

VTC 171.5×the volume

JLQD755VTC129K

5Y return · a year

JLQD−0.1%VTC−0.1%

JLQD vs VTC Performance

Oct 29, 2021 – Oct 30, 2026

−0.4%JLQD−0.6%VTC

Expense ratio: JLQD 0.35%; VTC 0.03%, better
Fund size: JLQD $16M; VTC $1.6B
1Y total return: JLQD −1.3%; VTC −0.6%, better
Yield (12M): JLQD 6.18%, better; VTC 5.13%
Holdings: JLQD 146; VTC 5209
Avg volume (30D): JLQD 755 sh; VTC 129K sh, better
NAV per share: JLQD $39.58; VTC $74.09
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for JLQD, VTC, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	JLQD	VTC
Cost30% weight	D29	A98Higher
Mission25% weight	A100	A100
Risk15% weight	C52Higher	D35
Tradability15% weight	F19	A70Higher
Holdings10% weight	B55	A94Higher
Durability5% weight	D36	A87Higher

Rank among Investment Grade Corporate funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. JLQD and VTC are both graded against the same 49 Investment Grade Corporate funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

Investment Grade Corporate⁠

Category · 49 funds

See all 49 ›

VTC ranks 3rd and JLQD 33rd of 49 funds in the Investment Grade Corporate Category.

Rank 1AUSIGiShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFScore 90
Rank 2ASPBOState Street SPDR Portfolio Corporate Bond ETFScore 89
Rank 3AVTCVanguard Total Corporate Bond ETFScore 83
Rank 4AGIGBGoldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFScore 80
Rank 33CFIGBFidelity Investment Grade Bond ETFScore 51
Rank 33CJLQDJanus Henderson Corporate Bond ETFScore 51
Rank 35CFTRBFederated Hermes Total Return Bond ETFScore 50

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

JLQDCJanus Henderson Corporate Bond ETF

VTCAVanguard Total Corporate Bond ETF

In short

JLQD A boutique take on investment-grade credit: roughly 180 corporate bonds measured against the Bloomberg U.S. Corporate Bond Index, with cash paid out monthly. Small, lightly traded, and priced above the plain index trackers on the same benchmark.

VTC Most cheap corporate bond funds sell you one slice of the maturity curve. VTC buys the whole investment-grade corporate market, short to long, for 0.03% a year, and since 2025 it owns the bonds directly instead of stacking three Vanguard funds.

Stated mandate

JLQD The fund seeks total return through both income and capital appreciation.

VTC The Fund seeks to track a broad, market-weighted corporate bond index, specifically the Bloomberg U.S. Corporate Bond Index. It uses an indexing approach focused on investment-grade, fixed-rate, taxable corporate bonds.

Why people hold it

JLQD Stays on-label. The portfolio has hewed closely to its stated corporate-bond mandate rather than drifting into other corners of credit.
Pays monthly, with a stated goal of total return from both income and capital appreciation.janushenderson.com
Spread across roughly 180 corporate bonds benchmarked to the Bloomberg U.S. Corporate Bond Index, so no single issuer carries the fund.

VTC 0.03% a year against a 0.19% median for investment-grade corporate ETFs. On this exact Bloomberg index, nothing in the group charges less.
One ticker, the full corporate curve. Top-graded rivals like VCIT, IGIB and IGSB each buy a single maturity band; VTC's index spans short, intermediate and long fixed-rate corporates.
No overlays, no active tilts, no credit guesswork. Market-weighted indexing of investment-grade, fixed-rate, taxable corporates, and the portfolio hews tightly to that mandate.
Income lands monthly, not quarterly, which matters if bond coupons are doing real work in your cash flow.

Worth knowing

JLQD The 0.35% fee runs above the typical investment-grade corporate fund and far above same-benchmark trackers like SPBO and VTC at 0.03%.
Small fund, light trading. That usually means wider bid-ask spreads than the category giants, and bigger orders can nudge the price.
Investment-grade corporate bonds still move with interest rates and credit spreads. This is a bond fund, not a cash substitute.

VTC Whole-curve means long bonds in the mix, so prices move more with interest rates than a 1-5 year slice like IGSB does.
The plumbing changed in March 2025: Vanguard moved it from holding three underlying corporate bond ETFs to buying the index bonds directly. Same objective, same index.sec.gov
Moderately traded rather than a volume heavyweight, so spreads can run wider than the busiest corporate bond funds, particularly in choppy markets.

Full JLQD profile⁠

Full VTC profile⁠

JLQD vs VTC Holdings

How JLQD and VTC differ

No overlap figure

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues.

Level by level

Countryby domicile90.6%
Asset classFixed Income100%

Sector

No Sector split for VTC.

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in JLQD and VTC, widest gap first
Country	More in JLQDMore in VTC	JLQD	VTC
United Kingdom	VTC +3.7 points	0.0%	3.7%
Japan	VTC +2.0 points	0.0%	2.0%
Bermuda	JLQD +1.8 points	1.8%	0.0%
Luxembourg	JLQD +1.5 points	1.6%	0.1%
United States	JLQD +1.5 points	87.7%	86.2%
South Korea	JLQD +1.3 points	1.3%	0.0%
Macau	JLQD +1.1 points	1.2%	0.1%
Canada	JLQD +1.0 points	3.9%	2.9%
Other countries (16)	VTC +2.5 points	2.5%	5.0%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

JLQD15.4%
VTC1.6%

Securities held

JLQD144
VTC5,204

Asset class

JLQD: Fixed Income
VTC: Fixed Income

Holdings

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues, so this page lists no shared Holdings. JLQD holds 144 securities, VTC 5,204.

All 144 JLQD holdings⁠All VTC holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

JLQD vs VTC Cost

Overpaying JLQD vs VTC

$6,488

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

JLQD 0.35%
$7,126
VTC 0.03%
$638

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

JLQD 0.35%
VTC 0.03%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	JLQD	VTC	Overpaying
10	$634	$55	$579
20	$2,454	$216	$2,238
30	$7,126	$638	$6,488

Expense ratio

0.35%JLQD
0.03%VTC, cheaper

VTC0.03%JLQD0.35%

0.03%0.53%

Middle half of Investment Grade Corporate funds
Median 0.25%

VTC cheapest of 49 funds

JLQD 33rd cheapest of 49 funds

JLQD vs VTC Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): JLQD 6.18%, better; VTC 5.13%
Payout (12M): JLQD $2.43; VTC $3.80
Last payment: JLQD $0.19; VTC $0.32
Ex-dividend: JLQD Oct 30, 2026; VTC Oct 1, 2026
Paid on: JLQD Pays Nov 5, 2026; VTC Oct 5, 2026
Frequency: JLQD Monthly; VTC Monthly

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

JLQDMonthly · 46 paymentsAll JLQD payments⁠

VTCMonthly · 45 paymentsAll VTC payments⁠

JLQD vs VTC Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

JLQD
VTC

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: JLQD 6.5%VTC 6.3%, better
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: JLQD 0.34, betterVTC 0.31
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: JLQD −20.9%, betterVTC −21.7%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: JLQD 1.15VTC 1.12; Market = 1

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