# VGLT ETF: fees, returns, drawdowns and holdings

> What VGLT holds, its 0.03% yearly fee, returns by year, its worst drop, and which Tactfolio strategies hold it. Updated daily.

Vanguard Long-Term Treasury ETF (VGLT) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by Vanguard. This fund owns about 100 US Treasury bonds, which are loans to the US government. It charges 0.03% a year. From January 2010 to October 2026 it returned about 2.4% a year, and its worst drop was −46.2%.

Written by [the Tactfolio research team](https://tactfolio.com/about/editorial-policy). Fund facts checked October 17, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.

## Key points

- Expense ratio: 0.03% a year (about $3 on $10,000).
- Started trading on November 19, 2009.
- Last close: $51.39 on October 16, 2026.
- Return over the last year: −7.2%.
- Worst drop since 2010: −46.2%.
- No Tactfolio classic strategies hold it.

## How has VGLT done since 2010?

From January 2010 to October 2026, VGLT returned about 2.4% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 14.0% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $14,953 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.

| Period | VGLT | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 month | −0.6% | 1.5% |
| 3 months | −3.6% | 1.9% |
| 6 months | −4.7% | 9.3% |
| Year to date | −4.6% | 12.8% |
| 1 year | −7.2% | 16.8% |
| 3 years, per year | 2.7% | 22.0% |
| 5 years, per year | −6.8% | 12.8% |
| 10 years, per year | −1.5% | 15.4% |
| Since 2010, per year | 2.4% | 14.0% |

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.

## VGLT returns by month and year

VGLT rose in 101 of its 202 months (50%). Its best month was August 2019, at 10.7%. Its worst was April 2022, at −9.2%.

| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Full year |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 (part) | −0.1% | 4.2% | −4.0% | −0.7% | 0.5% | 1.0% | −4.0% | 0.8% | −5.0% | 2.9% |  |  | −4.6% |
| 2025 | 0.6% | 5.1% | −0.9% | −1.0% | −2.9% | 2.5% | −0.9% | 0.3% | 3.0% | 1.3% | 0.4% | −2.1% | 5.3% |
| 2024 | −1.8% | −2.3% | 1.0% | −5.9% | 2.8% | 1.7% | 3.5% | 2.0% | 2.1% | −5.2% | 1.9% | −5.5% | −6.3% |
| 2023 | 7.1% | −4.7% | 4.7% | 0.5% | −2.8% | 0.0% | −2.2% | −2.8% | −7.3% | −4.9% | 9.1% | 8.2% | 3.3% |
| 2022 | −3.7% | −1.7% | −4.8% | −9.2% | −2.0% | −1.4% | 2.6% | −4.5% | −7.9% | −5.2% | 6.7% | −2.3% | −29.3% |
| 2021 | −3.5% | −5.6% | −4.9% | 2.3% | −0.1% | 4.2% | 3.7% | −0.3% | −2.8% | 1.9% | 2.6% | −1.9% | −5.0% |
| 2020 | 7.3% | 6.6% | 6.4% | 1.0% | −1.7% | 0.4% | 4.2% | −4.8% | 0.8% | −3.3% | 1.5% | −1.2% | 17.6% |
| 2019 | 0.5% | −1.3% | 5.4% | −1.9% | 6.7% | 1.0% | 0.3% | 10.7% | −2.6% | −1.1% | −0.4% | −2.9% | 14.3% |
| 2018 | −3.2% | −3.0% | 2.9% | −2.0% | 1.9% | 0.6% | −1.4% | 1.3% | −2.8% | −2.9% | 1.8% | 5.6% | −1.5% |
| 2017 | 0.6% | 1.7% | −0.6% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 0.7% | −0.6% | 3.3% | −2.2% | −0.1% | 0.7% | 1.7% | 8.6% |
| 2016 | 5.2% | 2.8% | 0.0% | −0.3% | 0.7% | 6.2% | 2.1% | −1.0% | −1.2% | −4.3% | −7.7% | −0.4% | 1.2% |
| 2015 | 8.6% | −5.5% | 1.4% | −2.9% | −2.3% | −3.5% | 4.0% | −0.6% | 1.9% | −0.4% | −1.1% | −0.2% | −1.3% |
| 2014 | 6.2% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 1.9% | 2.7% | −0.1% | 0.5% | 4.3% | −2.0% | 2.7% | 2.5% | 3.1% | 25.2% |
| 2013 | −2.8% | 1.2% | −0.1% | 3.9% | −6.1% | −3.4% | −1.8% | −0.7% | 0.3% | 1.0% | −2.4% | −2.0% | −12.4% |
| 2012 | 0.2% | −2.0% | −4.3% | 4.7% | 7.9% | −1.5% | 3.1% | −0.9% | −1.9% | −0.4% | 1.2% | −2.2% | 3.3% |
| 2011 | −2.1% | 1.4% | −0.1% | 2.2% | 3.3% | −1.9% | 4.0% | 8.8% | 10.0% | −3.7% | 2.2% | 2.9% | 29.2% |
| 2010 | 2.7% | −0.2% | −1.7% | 2.8% | 4.2% | 4.9% | 0.0% | 6.8% | −1.7% | −3.0% | −1.8% | −3.6% | 9.0% |

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

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

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

- **Beta 0.07.** When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, VGLT tended to move about 0.07%.
- **Correlation 0.09.** VGLT moved mostly on its own, apart from the S&P 500.
- **Up and down months.** In months the S&P 500 rose, VGLT rose 23% as much on average. In months it fell, VGLT fell 83% as much.

| Measure | VGLT | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Return per year | −6.9% | 12.8% |
| Volatility | 14.4% | 17.1% |
| Worst drop | −41.0% | −24.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.43 | 0.79 |
| Sortino ratio | -0.59 | 1.15 |
| Calmar ratio | -0.17 | 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 VGLT above its 200-day average?

VGLT closed 3.7% below its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds VGLT only above that average would be out of it today.

- Its 50-day average is 3.2% below its 200-day average.
- It closed 8.3% below its highest close of the last 52 weeks.

A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as [the 10-month moving average strategy](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/faber-10-month-moving-average.md) hold a fund only while it is above one. You can [build that rule for VGLT](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and backtest it in a minute.

## What was VGLT's worst drop?

A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. VGLT's worst fall was −46.2%, from August 4, 2020 to October 19, 2023. By October 16, 2026 it had not yet climbed back to that high. On October 16, 2026 it was 39.5% below its highest close.

| Drop | Started | Bottom | Back to the high | Fall took | Recovery took |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −46.2% | Aug 4, 2020 | Oct 19, 2023 | Not yet | 3.2 years | n/a |
| −17.8% | Jul 25, 2012 | Aug 19, 2013 | Oct 15, 2014 | 13 months | 14 months |
| −16.9% | Jul 8, 2016 | Dec 14, 2016 | Jun 3, 2019 | 5 months | 2.5 years |
| −14.2% | Mar 9, 2020 | Mar 18, 2020 | Aug 4, 2020 | 9 days | 5 months |
| −14.0% | Aug 31, 2010 | Feb 8, 2011 | Aug 4, 2011 | 5 months | 6 months |

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

## What does VGLT hold?

This fund owns about 100 US Treasury bonds, which are loans to the US government. These bonds are not paid back for 10 years or more. Long bonds like these can lose a lot of value when interest rates rise.

It tracks the Bloomberg US Long Treasury Bond Index. It had 101 holdings as of September 30, 2026, according to Vanguard.

| Fact | VGLT |
| --- | --- |
| Full name | Vanguard Long-Term Treasury ETF |
| Issuer | Vanguard |
| Expense ratio | 0.03% a year |
| Started trading | November 19, 2009 |
| Tracks | Bloomberg US Long Treasury Bond Index |
| Type | US bonds, ETF |
| Holdings | 101 holdings as of September 30, 2026 |
| Facts checked | October 17, 2026 on the [Vanguard fund page](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/vglt) |

## What is the VGLT expense ratio?

VGLT 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.

## Which Tactfolio strategies hold VGLT?

No classic strategy holds VGLT yet. You can add it to your own rules in the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and see how they would have done.

## How does VGLT compare with similar ETFs?

Funds that can stand in for VGLT:

- [EDV](https://tactfolio.com/etf/EDV.md): Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury ETF, 0.05% a year
- [TLT](https://tactfolio.com/etf/TLT.md): iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, 0.15% a year
- [VGIT](https://tactfolio.com/etf/VGIT.md): Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF, 0.03% a year
- [IEF](https://tactfolio.com/etf/IEF.md): iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF, 0.15% a year

See [all 4 VGLT alternatives](https://tactfolio.com/alternatives/VGLT.md), compared on the same dates as VGLT.

## Test VGLT 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](https://tactfolio.com/builder), add VGLT, 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 VGLT 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](https://tactfolio.com/docs/backtests.md) and [how to read drawdown and CAGR](https://tactfolio.com/docs/concepts/reading-a-backtest.md) for more on these measures.

## Research and test it

- [Portfolio rebalancing](https://tactfolio.com/learn/portfolio-rebalancing): What portfolio rebalancing is, why a 60/40 mix drifts, calendar vs threshold methods, and how taxes and costs fit in.
- [Risk parity](https://tactfolio.com/learn/risk-parity): Risk parity balances risk instead of dollars. See a simple stock and bond example, why funds use leverage, and what went wrong in 2022.
- [ETF screener](https://tactfolio.com/screener.md): A free ETF screener for 162 US-listed funds. Filter by type, issuer and fee, sort by returns or worst drop, and compare funds side by side.
- [ETF expense ratio](https://tactfolio.com/learn/etf-expense-ratio): What an ETF expense ratio is, how the fund charges it, and how 0.03% vs 1% adds up over 10 and 30 years, with real fund examples.
- [Backtest a portfolio](https://tactfolio.com/trading-tools/backtest-portfolio): Backtest a portfolio of US stocks and ETFs. Enter tickers and shares, pick when to rebalance, and get the results with a link to share.
- [Backtesting](https://tactfolio.com/backtesting): Free backtesting software for stocks, ETFs, and crypto perps.

## Common questions

### What is the expense ratio of VGLT?

VGLT 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 VGLT start trading?

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

### What does VGLT track?

VGLT tracks the Bloomberg US Long Treasury Bond Index. This fund owns about 100 US Treasury bonds, which are loans to the US government.

### How much has VGLT returned per year?

From January 2010 to October 2026, VGLT returned about 2.4% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −46.2%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.

### Is VGLT above its 200-day moving average?

On October 16, 2026, VGLT closed 3.7% below its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.

### Which strategies use VGLT?

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

## Sources

- [Vanguard: Vanguard Long-Term Treasury ETF fund page](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/vglt)

> Not financial advice. Tactfolio is a research and automation tool. It is not a broker or a financial adviser. This page is for education only. Backtests are hypothetical. They show how rules would have done on past prices, not how they will do. All investing involves risk, including losing the money you put in.