- What does VBTLX invest in?
- This fund aims to offer broad and diversified exposure to high-quality U.S. debt instruments. To achieve this, it strategically invests in a wide range of U.S. Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities, spanning all durations from short-term to long-term issues. As is typical with fixed-income investments, a key risk involves interest rate fluctuations; an increase in rates can cause the market value of the fund's underlying bonds to fall, thereby reducing its net asset value. Due to its extensive coverage across various segments and maturity horizons of the bond market, investors may consider incorporating this fund as a core part of their fixed-income portfolio.
- What is the expense ratio of VBTLX?
- Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Admiral Shares (VBTLX) charges an expense ratio of 0.04%. This is the annual fee deducted from fund assets to cover management and operations.
- What is VBTLX's dividend yield?
- VBTLX's trailing-twelve-month yield is 4.05%, calculated from the sum of dividends over the past year divided by the current price.
- What is the duration of VBTLX?
- Effective duration measures VBTLX's sensitivity to interest-rate changes — a duration of 6 means a 1% rate move shifts NAV by roughly 6% in the opposite direction. VBTLX's current duration is published on the fund's factsheet on the issuer's website.
- What is the credit quality of VBTLX?
- VBTLX'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 VBTLX?
- Yield to maturity (YTM) is the total return you'd earn from VBTLX if every bond in the portfolio is held to maturity at the current price. VBTLX'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.
