Vanguard Long-Term Treasury ETF

Vanguard Long-Term Treasury ETF (VGLT) holds U.S. Treasury bonds that mature in more than 10 years and tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index. Its 0.03% expense ratio matches SPDR's SPTL and Schwab's SCHQ. It is well below the 0.15% charged by iShares' TLT. The trade-off is that its price reacts strongly to interest rates. It lost 29.44% in 2022, and its 46.2% drop that began in August 2020 had not been recovered as of October 29, 2026.

• Over the year to Oct 30, 2026, VGLT returned -4.4%, 2nd of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was -6.7% and its 10-year -1.2%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash, while stocks fell, it gained 13.4%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-29.3%); its best was 2011 (+29.2%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 46.2% (Aug 4, 2020 to Oct 19, 2023), not yet recovered.

As of Aug 31, 2026, the fund held 99 securities; the ten largest made up 20.84% of assets.

The bonds mature in 21.7 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 3.56%.

• Over the three months to Aug 31, 2026, investors added a net $1.05B (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +1.00%, -4.01%, +0.83%.

VGLT is the exchange-traded share class of Vanguard Long-Term Treasury Index Fund. It aims to track the Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index, a market-weighted index of U.S. Treasury bonds that mature in more than 10 years. The index leaves out inflation-protected Treasuries (TIPS), floating-rate notes and certain other types. Under normal conditions, the fund keeps at least 80% of its net assets in bonds from the index.

The fund does not buy every bond in the index. It uses sampling, which means it holds a set of bonds that together match the index's key risk traits. It also keeps its average maturity in line with the index. As of August 31, 2026, it held 99 securities: about 98.2% in Treasury bonds, 1.1% in cash and no derivatives. No single bond was more than about 2.2% of assets, and the top 10 made up 20.84%. The prospectus lists portfolio turnover of 20%.

Maturity drives everything here. As of August 31, 2026, the bonds averaged 21.7 years to maturity, with an average coupon (fixed interest rate) of 3.56%. Bond prices move opposite to interest rates, and long bonds react the most. Small rate changes can therefore move the share price sharply. Shares trade on Nasdaq at market prices, which can differ slightly from the value of the bonds the fund holds.

• VGLT charges 0.03% a year, versus an average of 0.15% for the similar funds below (1st of 8, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.02% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• 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).

Long Treasuries have sometimes risen when stocks fell, as in early 2020, but they fell hard alongside stocks in 2022.

VGLT has moved largely apart from stocks. Its one-year beta, a measure of how closely it follows the stock market, was 0.21 as of October 29, 2026. During the 2020 COVID crash it gained 13.4% while stocks fell, despite a brief 14.2% dip that it recovered from in about 4.6 months. In the 2022 bear market, however, it fell 28.1% along with stocks. That made 2022 its worst calendar year, at -29.44%. Its deepest drop, 46.2% from August 2020 to October 2023, was still not recovered as of October 29, 2026. The fund launched in November 2009, so it has no record from 2008. Someone selling shares for spending money during a stretch like that would lock in losses.

Its trailing 12-month yield was 4.82% as of October 29, 2026, paid monthly, and it costs 0.03% a year. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

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