Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF

Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF (VCLT) tracks the Bloomberg U.S. 10+ Year Corporate Bond Index. It holds about 2,844 investment-grade company bonds that mature in more than 10 years, from issuers such as Anheuser-Busch, CVS Health and Meta. It costs 0.03% a year, against an average of 0.10% for similar funds, and its trailing yield was 5.84% as of October 27, 2026. The trade-off is large price swings when interest rates move.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, VCLT returned -5.4%, 6th of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was -3.4% and its 10-year +1.7%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 28.2% and regained its old high 3.6 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-25.5%); its best was 2019 (+23.9%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 34.3% (Sep 22, 2021 to Oct 24, 2022), not yet recovered.

As of Aug 31, 2026, the fund held 2,844 securities; the ten largest made up 2.54% of assets.

The bonds mature in 22.3 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 4.8%.

• Over the three months to Aug 31, 2026, investors added a net $753.8M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.26%, -3.92%, +0.81%.

VCLT is the exchange-traded share class of Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund. It aims to track the Bloomberg U.S. 10+ Year Corporate Bond Index, which holds US dollar bonds from US and non-US industrial, utility and financial companies. Each bond must be investment grade, meaning credit agencies rate it as relatively unlikely to default. It must also pay a fixed rate, be taxable and have more than 10 years left to maturity. The index is market-weighted, so larger bond issues count for more.

Vanguard does not buy every bond in the index. Instead it uses sampling: it holds a mix of bonds that matches the index's key risk factors and average maturity. As of August 31, 2026, the fund had 2,844 holdings with an average maturity of 22.3 years. The largest, an Anheuser-Busch bond, was 0.35% of assets. Bonds from CVS Health and Meta Platforms came next. The 10 largest positions totaled 2.54% of assets. The fund also held 0.39% in cash and a negligible position in one interest-rate futures contract.

Bond prices move opposite to interest rates, and longer bonds react more. That means VCLT can fall sharply when rates rise. Bonds also leave the index once 10 or fewer years remain to maturity, so the fund has to trade regularly. The prospectus reports portfolio turnover of 44%. Shares trade on Nasdaq at market prices, which can differ slightly from the value of the bonds the fund holds.

• VCLT charges 0.03% a year, versus an average of 0.1% for the similar funds below (1st of 8, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $3 in the first year and $39 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

VCLT pays income every month from a broad, low-cost mix of long-term investment-grade company bonds, though its price can swing widely.

VCLT's main appeal is income. Its trailing 12-month yield was 5.84% as of October 27, 2026, and it pays monthly. It is also cheap: in the SEC's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $3 in the first year and $39 over 10 years. The catch is volatility. The fund launched in November 2009, so it has no record from 2008. In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 28.2% between March 6 and March 19, then recovered by July 8, 2020. In 2022 it lost 25.73%, its worst calendar year. Its deepest drop was 34.3%, from September 2021 to October 2022, and it had not recovered as of October 27, 2026. A retiree who had to sell shares in late 2022 would have locked in a large loss. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan needs to look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by bond funds with the closest average maturity and issuer mix (N-PORT).