VGIT ETF: fees, returns, drawdowns and holdings

How has VGIT done since 2009?#

VGITS&P 500 (SPY)Growth of $10,000, log scale, with dividends reinvested. Past results do not tell you what happens next.

From November 2009 to October 2026, VGIT returned about 2.0% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 14.1% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $14,067 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.

Period	VGIT	S&P 500 (SPY)
1 month	0.3%	1.5%
3 months	−1.6%	1.9%
6 months	−2.1%	9.3%
Year to date	−1.8%	12.8%
1 year	−1.9%	16.8%
3 years per year	4.0%	22.0%
5 years per year	−0.1%	12.8%
10 years per year	1.1%	15.4%
Since 2009 per year	2.0%	14.1%

Periods longer than a year show the return per year (CAGR). Prices through October 16, 2026. Figures use daily closing prices adjusted for splits, with dividends reinvested. They do not include taxes or the cost of buying and selling. Past results do not tell you what will happen next.

VGIT returns by month and year#

VGIT rose in 110 of its 204 months (54%). Its best month was November 2023, at 3.1%. Its worst was September 2022, at −3.3%.

Return each month, in percent
Year	Total	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2026	−1.8%	0.0	1.7	−1.7	−0.1	0.0	0.1	−0.7	0.1	−2.3	1.2
2025	7.3%	0.6	1.9	0.6	1.3	−0.8	1.2	−0.4	1.5	0.2	0.6	0.8	−0.2
2024	1.4%	0.3	−1.5	0.5	−2.0	1.4	1.0	2.4	1.2	1.1	−2.4	0.7	−1.1
2023	4.3%	2.4	−2.4	3.1	0.7	−1.1	−1.2	−0.1	−0.2	−1.7	−0.9	3.1	2.6
2022	−10.5%	−1.6	−0.4	−3.2	−2.5	0.7	−0.6	1.9	−2.8	−3.3	−0.7	2.5	−0.7
2021	−2.6%	−0.4	−1.4	−1.2	0.7	0.3	0.2	1.2	−0.3	−1.0	−0.7	0.5	−0.4
2020	7.7%	2.2	2.1	2.9	0.0	0.4	0.1	0.5	−0.4	0.1	−0.6	0.2	0.0
2019	6.2%	0.4	−0.2	1.8	−0.1	2.1	1.0	−0.1	2.5	−0.7	0.3	−0.4	−0.3
2018	1.4%	−1.4	−0.5	0.7	−0.9	0.8	0.1	−0.3	0.7	−0.8	0.0	1.0	2.1
2017	1.7%	0.4	0.4	0.1	0.8	0.6	−0.5	0.4	0.9	−0.9	−0.2	−0.4	0.0
2016	0.8%	2.1	0.8	0.2	−0.2	−0.2	2.1	0.1	−0.7	0.4	−0.9	−2.6	−0.2
2015	1.5%	2.5	−1.5	0.8	−0.1	−0.1	−0.8	0.9	−0.1	1.2	−0.6	−0.5	0.0
2014	4.6%	1.7	0.3	−0.7	0.6	1.0	−0.1	−0.5	1.1	−0.6	1.1	0.7	−0.1
2013	−2.7%	−0.5	0.7	0.2	0.8	−1.7	−1.5	0.1	−0.8	1.3	0.6	−0.2	−1.4
2012	2.2%	0.6	−0.7	−1.0	1.7	1.2	−0.1	0.8	0.1	0.0	−0.4	0.6	−0.5
2011	9.6%	0.1	−0.6	−0.2	1.6	1.9	−0.2	2.2	2.8	0.5	−0.5	0.6	1.1
2010	7.5%	2.1	0.5	−0.7	0.9	1.6	2.3	0.9	2.0	0.4	0.4	−1.1	−1.8
2009	−2.0%											0.9	−2.8

Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.

How risky is VGIT compared with the S&P 500?#

Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.

Beta 0.03. When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, VGIT tended to move about 0.03%.
Correlation 0.08. VGIT moved mostly on its own, apart from the S&P 500.
Up and down months. In months the S&P 500 rose, VGIT rose 14% as much on average. In months it fell, VGIT fell 26% as much.

Measure	VGIT	S&P 500 (SPY)
Return per year	−0.1%	12.8%
Volatility	5.4%	17.1%
Worst drop	−13.7%	−24.5%
Sharpe ratio	0.01	0.79
Sortino ratio	0.02	1.15
Calmar ratio	-0.01	0.52

Volatility is how much the price swings in a year. The Sharpe ratio is return per unit of volatility, the Sortino ratio counts only the falls, and the Calmar ratio is the return per year over the worst drop. Higher ratios mean more return for the risk taken.

Is VGIT above its 200-day average?#

VGIT closed 1.5% below its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds VGIT only above that average would be out of it today.

vs 200-day average: −1.5%; below it
50-day vs 200-day: −1.1%; trend falling
vs 52-week high: −3.4%; high of $59.17

A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as the 10-month moving average strategy hold a fund only while it is above one. You can build that rule for VGIT and backtest it in a minute.

What was VGIT’s worst drop?#

Drawdown: how far VGIT was below its last high on each day.

A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. VGIT’s worst fall was −16.1%, from August 4, 2020 to October 20, 2022. By October 16, 2026 it had not yet climbed back to that high. On October 16, 2026 it was 3.8% below its highest close.

Drop	From the high	To the bottom	Back to the high
−16.1%	Aug 4, 2020	Oct 20, 20222.2 years	Not yet
−5.5%	Nov 4, 2010	Feb 8, 20113 months	Jun 16, 20114 months
−5.4%	Jul 5, 2016	May 16, 201822 months	Mar 22, 201910 months
−5.1%	May 1, 2013	Sep 5, 20134 months	Oct 13, 201413 months

Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.

What does VGIT hold?#

This fund owns about 100 US Treasury bonds, which are loans to the US government. The bonds are paid back in about 3 to 10 years. Their prices tend to fall when interest rates rise, but usually less than long bonds.

It tracks the Bloomberg US Treasury 3-10 Year Bond Index. It had 102 holdings as of September 30, 2026, according to Vanguard.

What is the VGIT expense ratio?#

VGIT charges 0.03% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.03% fee comes to about $3 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 85% charge more.

You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.

0.03%

Which Tactfolio strategies hold VGIT?#

No classic strategy holds VGIT yet. You can add it to your own rules in the builder and see how they would have done.

How does VGIT compare with similar ETFs?#

Funds that can stand in for VGIT:

IEF: iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF, 0.15% a year
AGG: iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, 0.03% a year
BND: Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF, 0.03% a year
SCHZ: Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, 0.03% a year

See all 8 VGIT alternatives, compared on the same dates as VGIT.

Test VGIT in your own rules#

Tactfolio is a platform where you build rules-based investing strategies, backtest them on decades of real prices, share them, and run them automatically in your own Alpaca account. Open the builder, add VGIT, and see how a rule such as “hold it only above its 200-day average” would have done. Strategies run on daily prices and hold US stocks and ETFs only.

The details#

Prices come from Tactfolio’s stored daily prices for VGIT and SPY. Each close is adjusted for splits, and dividends are reinvested on the day the fund pays them out. CAGR is the steady yearly return that turns the starting value into the ending value. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Beta and correlation compare daily returns with the S&P 500 over the same dates.

Fund facts come from Vanguard. We checked them on October 17, 2026. Read what a backtest simulates and how to read drawdown and CAGR for more on these measures.

Common questions#

What is the expense ratio of VGIT?#

VGIT charges 0.03% a year, according to Vanguard as of October 17, 2026. That is about $3 a year for every $10,000 you hold.

When did VGIT start trading?#

VGIT started trading on November 19, 2009. It is run by Vanguard.

What does VGIT track?#

VGIT tracks the Bloomberg US Treasury 3-10 Year Bond Index. This fund owns about 100 US Treasury bonds, which are loans to the US government.

How much has VGIT returned per year?#

From November 2009 to October 2026, VGIT returned about 2.0% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −16.1%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.

Is VGIT above its 200-day moving average?#

On October 16, 2026, VGIT closed 1.5% below its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.

Which strategies use VGIT?#

None of Tactfolio’s classic strategies hold VGIT yet. You can test it in your own rules in the builder.

Sources#

Vanguard: Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF fund page