SPLB vs VCLT

SPLBAState Street SPDR Portfolio Long Term Corporate Bond ETF

VCLTAVanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF

In short

SPLB SPLB owns the long end of the corporate bond market, investment-grade debt maturing in 10 years or more, for four basis points a year. Maximum duration exposure at a near-free price.

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

SPLB The fund seeks to track the Bloomberg U.S. Long Term Corporate Bond Index, which represents U.S. corporate bonds with maturities of at least 10 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

• SPLB Charges 0.04% a year, far under the typical investment-grade corporate bond ETF.
• Roughly 2,900 bonds tracking the Bloomberg U.S. Long Term Corporate Bond Index, so no single issuer steers the fund.ssga.com
• Coupons pass through monthly, and the fund has been running since 2009 with steady trading volume behind it.
• Tracks its index tightly and ranks among the stronger builds in the investment-grade corporate group.

• 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

• SPLB Ten-year-plus maturities swing hard when rates move. Intermediate SPIB or short-dated IGSB cover the same credit with far less rate sensitivity.
• Pure corporate credit, no Treasury ballast, so prices fall when spreads widen.
• US issuers only. No overseas corporate exposure here.

• 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 SPLB profile⁠

Full VCLT profile⁠