BND: Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF
Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by Vanguard. This fund owns thousands of US bonds, which are loans that pay interest. It charges 0.03% a year. From April 2007 to October 2026 it returned about 2.9% a year, and its worst drop was −18.6%.
Written by the Tactfolio research team. Fund facts checked October 16, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.
- Yearly fee
- 0.03%
- about $3 on $10,000
- Return per year
- 2.9%
- since April 2007
- Worst drop
- −18.6%
- since 2007
- Started trading
- Apr 2007
- Vanguard
Key points
- Expense ratio: 0.03% a year (about $3 on $10,000).
- Started trading on April 3, 2007.
- Worst drop since 2007: −18.6%.
- 6 Tactfolio classic strategies hold it.
What does BND hold?#
This fund owns thousands of US bonds, which are loans that pay interest. They include bonds from the US government, bonds backed by home loans, and bonds from companies, all rated investment grade. Bond prices usually fall when interest rates rise and rise when interest rates fall.
It tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index. It had 11,434 holdings as of September 30, 2026, according to Vanguard.
| Fact | BND |
|---|---|
| Full name | Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF |
| Issuer | Vanguard |
| Expense ratio | 0.03% a year |
| Started trading | April 3, 2007 |
| Tracks | Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index |
| Type | US bonds, ETF |
| Holdings | 11,434 holdings as of September 30, 2026 |
| Facts checked | October 16, 2026 on the Vanguard fund page |
What is the BND expense ratio?#
BND 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.
You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.
How has BND done since 2007?#
From April 2007 to October 2026, BND returned about 2.9% a year. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $17,421 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.
| Measure | BND |
|---|---|
| Total return | 74.2% |
| Return per year (CAGR) | 2.9% |
| Worst drop from a high | −18.6% |
| Volatility (how much it swings) | 5.2% |
| Last 12 months | −1.7% |
| Last 3 years, per year | 4.7% |
| Last 5 years, per year | −0.4% |
| Last 10 years, per year | 1.4% |
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.
BND returns by year#
| Year | BND return |
|---|---|
| 2026 (part of the year) | −1.5% |
| 2025 | 7.1% |
| 2024 | 1.4% |
| 2023 | 5.7% |
| 2022 | −13.1% |
| 2021 | −1.9% |
| 2020 | 7.7% |
| 2019 | 8.8% |
| 2018 | 0.1% |
| 2017 | 4.0% |
| 2016 | 2.5% |
| 2015 | 0.6% |
| 2014 | 5.8% |
| 2013 | −2.1% |
| 2012 | 2.9% |
| 2011 | 7.9% |
| 2010 | 6.2% |
| 2009 | 3.6% |
| 2008 | 6.9% |
| 2007 (part of the year) | 6.1% |
What was BND’s worst drop?#
A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. BND’s worst fall was −18.6%, from August 6, 2020 to October 20, 2022. By October 16, 2026 it had not yet climbed back to that high.
The chart shows how far below its last high the fund was on each day. Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.
Which Tactfolio strategies hold BND?#
6 classic strategies hold BND at least some of the time. Each is a set of written rules you can open, test and copy.
- Bold Asset Allocation (BAA), by Wouter Keller, 2022
- Defensive Asset Allocation (DAA), by Wouter Keller and JW Keuning, 2018
- Bold Asset Allocation G4 (BAA aggressive), by Wouter Keller, 2022
- Kipnis Defensive Adaptive Asset Allocation (KDA), by Ilya Kipnis, 2019
- Three-Fund Portfolio (Taylor Larimore, Bogleheads), by Taylor Larimore, 2018
- Resilient Asset Allocation (Keller’s RAA), by Wouter J. Keller, 2020
How does BND compare with similar ETFs?#
Side-by-side pages measure both funds over the same dates:
- AGG vs BND: two total US bond market funds.
Funds that can stand in for BND:
- AGG: iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, 0.03% a year
- SCHZ: Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, 0.03% a year
- IUSB: iShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF, 0.06% a year
- VGIT: Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF, 0.03% a year
See all 7 BND alternatives, compared on the same dates as BND.
Test BND 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 BND, 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 BND. 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.
Fund facts come from Vanguard. We checked them on October 16, 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 BND?#
BND charges 0.03% a year, according to Vanguard as of October 16, 2026. That is about $3 a year for every $10,000 you hold.
When did BND start trading?#
BND started trading on April 3, 2007. It is run by Vanguard.
What does BND track?#
BND tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index. This fund owns thousands of US bonds, which are loans that pay interest.
How much has BND returned per year?#
From April 2007 to October 2026, BND returned about 2.9% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −18.6%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.
Which strategies use BND?#
6 of Tactfolio’s classic strategies hold BND, including Bold Asset Allocation (BAA), Defensive Asset Allocation (DAA), Bold Asset Allocation G4 (BAA aggressive).