MLDR vs VGIT

MLDRBGlobal X Intermediate-Term Treasury Ladder ETF

VGITAVanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF

In short

MLDR One ticker instead of a homemade bond ladder. MLDR follows an index that spreads US Treasuries across maturity rungs from 3 to 10 years and rolls them forward as they age. Pays monthly, costs 0.12% a year.

VGIT The middle of the Treasury curve, priced like an afterthought. VGIT holds government bonds maturing in 3 to 10 years for 0.03% a year, a quarter of what the typical Treasury fund in its peer group charges.

Stated mandate

MLDR The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the FTSE US Treasury 3-10 Years Laddered Bond Index.

VGIT Seeks to track a market-weighted Treasury bond index while maintaining an intermediate-term dollar-weighted average maturity.

Why people hold it

• MLDR At 0.12% a year, it undercuts the median intermediate Treasury fund in its group (0.15%).
• The laddered index keeps maturities spread across the 3-to-10-year range, so bonds roll off and get reinvested on a rolling schedule rather than all at once.globalxetfs.com
• US government paper only, no corporate credit, roughly 70 positions, and cash goes out monthly. What's on the tin is what's in the fund.globalxetfs.com

• VGIT Charges 0.03% a year against a 0.12% median for Treasury funds in its peer group. In bonds, where the coupon does the work, that fee gap is most of the argument.
• Plain index work: it follows the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 3-10 Year Bond Index with very little slippage, one of the tighter implementations in its Treasury peer group.vanguard.com
• Running since 2009 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so spreads stay tight. Interest lands monthly.
• The portfolio is U.S. government paper only, a few dozen issues. No corporate borrowers to underwrite, no credit research required.vanguard.com

Worth knowing

• MLDR Plain market-weighted rivals are cheaper: SPTI and SCHR both run 0.03%. The ladder construction is what the extra buys.
• A small, thinly traded fund, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the category's giants. Order size and order type matter more here.
• Launched in 2024, so there's not yet a long record to judge it across a full rate cycle.

• VGIT Intermediate maturities cut both ways. A 3 to 10 year book reprices more when yields move than a bill fund does, so the ride is bumpier than cash-like Treasury products.
• Treasuries only means no corporate credit premium in the yield. Income comes strictly from government coupons, and the monthly payout drifts with rates.

Full MLDR profile⁠

Full VGIT profile⁠