MYCJ vs VBCA

MYCJDState Street My2030 Corporate Bond ETF

VBCAAVanguard Target Maturity 2027 Corporate Bond ETF

In short

MYCJ A 2030 rung for a build-your-own bond ladder, with a twist: a manager picks the corporate bonds instead of an index. It holds them toward maturity, pays monthly, and plans to return remaining principal around December 15, 2030.

VBCA Vanguard showed up late to the bond-ladder aisle and priced it accordingly: one rung of investment-grade corporate bonds, all maturing in 2027, wrapped in an ETF at 0.08%.

Stated mandate

MYCJ The fund actively manages a target-maturity portfolio primarily of corporate bonds maturing in 2030. It seeks current income and capital preservation and plans to distribute remaining principal before liquidating around December 15, 2030.

VBCA The fund seeks to track a market-weighted index of U.S.-dollar-denominated, investment-grade corporate bonds that mature in 2027.

Why people hold it

• MYCJ Target-maturity plumbing: corporate bonds maturing in 2030, income paid monthly, and a plan to distribute remaining principal and wind the fund up on or about December 15, 2030.
• Active, not an index clone: State Street's bond team picks issuers inside the 2030 bucket. Its MyIncome suite launched in 2024 as the first active corporate target maturity ETFs.statestreet.com
• Credit risk is spread across a couple hundred corporate issues, so one shaky borrower is a dent rather than a hole. The portfolio does what the prospectus says it does.

• VBCA At 0.08%, it undercuts the target-maturity norm, where iShares iBonds and Invesco BulletShares rungs run 0.10%.
• Its bonds are scheduled to mature between January 1 and December 15, 2027, and the index has a planned liquidation around that date, so duration winds down instead of resetting forever.sec.gov
• Market-weighted and investment-grade only: a single maturity year spread across the US corporate market rather than a handful of hand-picked bonds.
• Stands among the stronger implementations in a crowded target-maturity group, on cost and portfolio discipline.

Worth knowing

• MYCJ At 0.15% a year it runs above the category's big index ladders (IBDU and BSCU charge 0.10%). Active bond selection is what the extra buys.
• Small and lightly traded next to the entrenched iBonds and BulletShares rungs, so the spread you pay depends more on how and when you trade.
• Active means the portfolio can look different from the ICE 2030 Maturity US Corporate Index it references, and corporate credit risk stays live until the fund matures.

• VBCA Launched in 2026 and still small, it trades thinly; spreads can be wider than on established bond ETFs.
• Corporate credit, not Treasuries: downgrades and defaults come with the territory. Treasury-only rungs such as IBTJ sidestep that risk.
• Short operating history, so there is limited data so far on how closely it tracks its index.

Full MYCJ profile⁠

Full VBCA profile⁠