VUSB vs YEAR: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF

VUSBACboe

AB Ultra Short Income ETF

YEARCNYSE Arca

Overlap

No data

Expense ratio

VUSB −0.15pt a year

VUSB0.10%YEAR0.25%

Avg volume · 30D

VUSB 13.7×the volume

VUSB2.04MYEAR149K

3Y return · a year

VUSB +0.5pt

VUSB+5.2%YEAR+4.7%

VUSB vs YEAR Performance

Nov 7, 2025 – Nov 9, 2026

+3.7%VUSB+3.2%YEAR

Expense ratio: VUSB 0.10%, better; YEAR 0.25%
Fund size: VUSB $9.9B; YEAR $1.59B
1Y total return: VUSB +3.7%, better; YEAR +3.2%
Yield (12M): VUSB 4.27%, better; YEAR 3.98%
Holdings: VUSB 1352; YEAR 157
Avg volume (30D): VUSB 2.04M sh, better; YEAR 149K sh
NAV per share: VUSB $49.51; YEAR $50.14
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for VUSB, YEAR, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	VUSB	YEAR
Cost30% weight	A84Higher	F18
Mission25% weight	A100	A100
Risk15% weight	C52Higher	C43
Tradability15% weight	B67Higher	B59
Holdings10% weight	A86Higher	C53
Durability5% weight	A88Higher	B63

Rank among Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. VUSB and YEAR are both graded against the same 78 Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

Cash & Ultra-Short Income⁠

Category · 78 funds

See all 78 ›

VUSB ranks 2nd and YEAR 57th of 78 funds in the Cash & Ultra-Short Income Category.

Rank 1AICSHiShares Ultra Short Duration Bond Active ETFScore 84
Rank 2ACLIPGlobal X 1-3 Month T-Bill ETFScore 81
Rank 2AVBILVanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETFScore 81
Rank 2AVUSBVanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETFScore 81
Rank 5ATBLLInvesco Short Term Treasury ETFScore 80
Rank 57CUYLDAngel Oak Ultrashort Income ETFScore 54
Rank 57CYEARAB Ultra Short Income ETFScore 54
Rank 61CMMKTTexas Capital Government Money Market ETFScore 53

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

VUSBAVanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF

YEARCAB Ultra Short Income ETF

In short

VUSB Vanguard's first actively managed bond ETF, run by its in-house fixed income team and priced at 0.10%. It holds investment-grade paper maturing inside two years: a step past a money fund, well short of a real bond fund.

YEAR The fund that put AllianceBernstein in the ETF business. An active ultra-short bond portfolio that reaches past T-bills into investment-grade corporates and money-market paper, keeps duration under a year, and pays monthly.

Stated mandate

VUSB The fund seeks current income with limited price volatility while investing in diversified high- and medium-quality fixed-income securities. It expects to maintain a dollar-weighted average maturity of 0–2 years.

YEAR The fund is actively managed and seeks current income with preservation of capital. It primarily invests in high-quality, investment-grade fixed-income and cash-equivalent securities with duration of one year or less, including corporate securities, Treasuries, repurchase agreements, money-market funds and other high-quality money-market instruments.

Why people hold it

VUSB At 0.10%, it costs half the typical ultra-short bond ETF and undercuts the other leaders in the group: SHV, PULS, FLDR and DUSB all charge 0.15%.
Active, not adventurous. The managers buy investment-grade bonds (A3-or-better high quality plus BBB-tier medium quality) and hold average maturity to zero-to-two years.vanguard.com
Income lands monthly, sourced from roughly 170 bonds, so no single issuer drives the outcome.
A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, and the same portfolio team also runs a similar Vanguard ultra-short fund.vanguard.com

YEAR Actively managed, so duration, sector mix and individual bonds can shift inside the under-one-year window rather than following a fixed ladder.alliancebernstein.com
Wider toolkit than government-only cash funds like SBIL and IQMM: investment-grade corporates, Treasuries, repos, CDs, commercial paper and money-market funds.
A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades with reasonable regularity and distributes income monthly, spread across roughly 160 short-dated positions.
One of AllianceBernstein's first two ETFs, launched in 2022, backed by a fixed income desk the firm has run for decades.prnewswire.com

Worth knowing

VUSB This is not a money market fund. No fixed $1 share price, and the market price can trade above or below the value of the holdings.vanguard.com
The mandate allows BBB-tier credit, a notch of risk a Treasury-only neighbor like SHV doesn't take.vanguard.com
Bonds this short reprice with short-term rates, so the monthly payout drifts up and down instead of holding a set level.vanguard.com

YEAR At 0.25% a year, it prices above the middle of the cash-alternative group, and cheaper options including ICSH and JPST sit in the same aisle.
Corporate credit and money-market paper are not T-bills. Capital preservation is a stated goal, not a floor, and the share price can move.alliancebernstein.com
Duration under one year ties the income stream tightly to short-term rates, so the monthly payout rises and falls with them.

Full VUSB profile⁠

Full YEAR profile⁠

VUSB vs YEAR Holdings

How VUSB and YEAR differ

No overlap figure

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues.

Level by level

Sector3 Sectors56.3%
Countryby domicile88.1%
Asset classBonds100%

Sector

Sector weights in VUSB and YEAR, widest gap first
Sector	Gap	VUSB	YEAR
Government	YEAR +43.6 points	7.8%	51.4%
Securitized	VUSB +25.2 points	30.0%	4.8%
Corporate	VUSB +18.4 points	62.2%	43.8%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in VUSB and YEAR, widest gap first
Country	Gap	VUSB	YEAR
United States	YEAR +7.3 points	76.9%	84.2%
Canada	VUSB +3.9 points	7.2%	3.3%
Cayman Islands	VUSB +2.5 points	2.5%	0.0%
France	YEAR +2.3 points	0.6%	2.9%
Germany	VUSB +1.7 points	1.7%	0.0%
Switzerland	VUSB +1.0 points	1.0%	0.0%
Ireland	VUSB +0.8 points	0.8%	0.0%
Japan	YEAR +0.7 points	2.1%	2.8%
Other countries (13)	VUSB +0.4 points	7.1%	6.7%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

VUSB12.6%
YEAR53.4%

Securities held

VUSB1,346
YEAR153

Asset class

VUSB: Bonds
YEAR: Bonds

Holdings

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues, so this page lists no shared Holdings. VUSB holds 1,346 securities, YEAR 153.

All 1,347 VUSB holdings⁠All 154 YEAR 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.

VUSB vs YEAR Cost

Overpaying YEAR vs VUSB

$3,053

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

VUSB 0.10%
$2,106
YEAR 0.25%
$5,159

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

VUSB 0.10%
YEAR 0.25%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	VUSB	YEAR	Overpaying
10	$183	$455	$272
20	$717	$1,769	$1,052
30	$2,106	$5,159	$3,053

Expense ratio

0.10%VUSB, cheaper
0.25%YEAR

VUSB0.10%YEAR0.25%

0.03%1.00%

Middle half of Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds
Median 0.18%

VUSB 13th cheapest of 78 funds

YEAR 62nd cheapest of 78 funds

VUSB vs YEAR Dividends

Last 12 months to Nov 9, 2026

Yield (12M): VUSB 4.27%, better; YEAR 3.98%
Payout (12M): VUSB $2.12; YEAR $1.99
Last payment: VUSB $0.18; YEAR $0.17
Ex-dividend: VUSB Nov 2, 2026; YEAR Nov 2, 2026
Paid on: VUSB Nov 4, 2026; YEAR Nov 5, 2026
Frequency: VUSB Monthly; YEAR Monthly

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

VUSBMonthly · 46 paymentsAll VUSB payments⁠

YEARMonthly · 46 paymentsAll YEAR payments⁠

VUSB vs YEAR Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: VUSB 0.8%, betterYEAR 0.9%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: VUSB 0.86, betterYEAR 0.21
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: VUSB −1.7%YEAR −0.6%since Sep 2022
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: VUSB 0.10YEAR 0.09; Market = 1

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