Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF

Frequently Asked Questions About BLV

What does BLV invest in?

This ETF is designed to mirror the performance of the Bloomberg U.S. Long Government/Credit Float Adjusted Index. It achieves this through a passive investment approach, employing index sampling rather than full replication. The fund offers broad, diversified access to the U.S. bond market, concentrating on long-term, investment-grade debt instruments. A key benefit for investors is the potential for substantial current income, thanks to its focus on securities with high creditworthiness.

What is the expense ratio of BLV?

Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF (BLV) charges an expense ratio of 0.03%. This is the annual fee deducted from fund assets to cover management and operations.

What is BLV's dividend yield?

BLV's trailing-twelve-month yield is 5.33%, calculated from the sum of dividends over the past year divided by the current price.

What is the duration of BLV?

Effective duration measures BLV's sensitivity to interest-rate changes — a duration of 6 means a 1% rate move shifts NAV by roughly 6% in the opposite direction. BLV's current duration is published on the fund's factsheet on the issuer's website.

What is the credit quality of BLV?

BLV's credit quality breakdown — the share of holdings rated AAA through CCC and below — is published on the fund's factsheet. Higher-quality (investment-grade) funds yield less but carry less default risk than high-yield / junk bond funds.

What is the yield to maturity of BLV?

Yield to maturity (YTM) is the total return you'd earn from BLV if every bond in the portfolio is held to maturity at the current price. BLV's YTM is published on the fund's factsheet on the issuer's website — it differs from the trailing-12-month yield because YTM reflects current bond prices rather than historical income paid.