Investment objective & strategy
As of Jan. 28, 2026 · prospectusObjective. Vanguard Short Duration Bond ETF (the Fund) seeks to provide high current income while maintaining limited price volatility.
Strategy. The Fund employs an active management approach, investing in bonds of various maturities, yields, and qualities. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in bonds. For purposes of the 80% policy, bonds include fixed income securities such as corporate bonds; U.S. Treasury obligations and other U.S. government and agency securities; obligations issued or guaranteed by a foreign government or their agencies, instrumentalities, or political subdivisions; and asset-backed, mortgage-backed, and mortgage-related securities. The Funds dollar-weighted average duration will normally range between 1 and 4 years. Duration is a measure of the price sensitivity of a bond or a bond fund to changes in interest rates. For … The Fund employs an active management approach, investing in bonds of various maturities, yields, and qualities. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in bonds. For purposes of the 80% policy, bonds include fixed income securities such as corporate bonds; U.S. Treasury obligations and other U.S. government and agency securities; obligations issued or guaranteed by a foreign government or their agencies, instrumentalities, or political subdivisions; and asset-backed, mortgage-backed, and mortgage-related securities. The Funds dollar-weighted average duration will normally range between 1 and 4 years. Duration is a measure of the price sensitivity of a bond or a bond fund to changes in interest rates. For example, if a bond has a duration of two years, its price would fall by approximately 2% when interest rates rise by 1%. On the other hand, the bonds price would rise by approximately 2% when interest rates fall by 1%. In general, the Fund purchases bonds with maturities of 90 days or more at the time of their issuance. The Funds dollar-weighted average maturity will normally range between 1 and 5 years but may be longer or shorter under certain market conditions, such as during periods of market stress. Due to the Funds holdings in asset-backed, mortgage-backed, and similar securities, its weighted average maturity may be approximate to the weighted average maturity of the cash flows in the securities it holds, given certain prepayment assumptions. This is also known as weighted average life. The Fund may purchase bonds of any quality, including high- and medium-quality bonds, which are considered to be investment-grade by Moodys or another independent rating agency (or, if unrated, are considered to be of comparable quality by the Funds advisor). With no more than 25% of its assets, the Fund also may invest in bonds rated below investment-grade, also referred to as high-yield securities or junk bonds. The Fund may invest in bonds of non-U.S. issuers, including emerging market countries. Although the Fund seeks to have the majority of its assets denominated in or hedged back to the U.S. dollar, it also may invest in foreign currency bonds on an unhedged basis. In an effort to manage the currency risk associated with investing in bonds denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, the Fund may seek to hedge some or all of its foreign currency exposure. To the extent that the Fund hedges its foreign currency exposure, it does so primarily through the use of foreign currency exchange forward contracts, which are a type of derivative. In addition to foreign currency exchange forward contracts, the Fund may invest in derivatives such as fixed income futures contracts, fixed income options (including options on swaps), currency swaps, interest rate swaps, total return swaps, credit default swaps, or other derivatives. The Fund may enter into To Be Announced (TBA) transactions or take short positions in TBA mortgage-backed securities.
Top holdings
As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT| Security | Ticker | Value | % of fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Treasury Bills | — | $11.57M | 2.52% |
| FNCL 5.5 4/26 | — | $11.55M | 2.52% |
| Fannie Mae Pool | — | $7.03M | 1.53% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $6.76M | 1.48% |
| Government National Mortgage Association, TBA | GNR | $5.77M | 1.26% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $4.89M | 1.07% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $4.72M | 1.03% |
| FNCL 6.5 4/26 | — | $4.65M | 1.01% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $4.38M | 0.96% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $4.28M | 0.93% |
Portfolio moves
Dec 31, 2025 → Mar 31, 2026How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.
Similar funds
Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight| Fund | Overlap | Net exp. |
|---|---|---|
| SHORT-TERM INVESTMENT-GRADE PORTFOLIO | 27% | 0.14% |
| VANGUARD SHORT-TERM BOND INDEX FUND · VBISX, VBIRX, BSV, VBITX, VBIPX | 27% | 0.02% |
| Schwab Short-Term Bond Index Fund · SWSBX | 26% | 0.06% |
Advisers
| Firm | Role |
|---|---|
| The Vanguard Group, Inc. | Adviser |
Footnotes
- Expense ratio as of January 28, 2026, from the fund's prospectus.
- Net assets and holdings count as of March 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
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