Vanguard launches three all-curve government bond ETFs

Key takeaways:

Today, Vanguard launched three U.S. government bond ETFs: Vanguard Government Securities Active ETF (VGVT), Vanguard Total Treasury ETF (VTG), and Vanguard Total Inflation-Protected Securities ETF (VTP), growing Vanguard’s offering of fixed income ETFs to 36.

VGVT, focused on Treasury and agency mortgage debt, has an expected expense ratio of 0.10%, while VTG and VTP come with expected expense ratios of 0.03% and 0.05%, respectively.¹ All are managed by Vanguard’s Fixed Income Group.

Each of the ETFs will launch as one of the lowest-cost ETFs in their respective categories.²

Government bonds offer diversification relative to equities in the purest fixed income form because they don’t have credit risk, and they currently offer relatively attractive income. This is important for many investors, particularly those who are turning to fixed income to be a source of stability in their overall portfolios.

VGVT: An active ETF

The launch of VGVT means advisors now have an active option that offers ETF investors a one-stop-shop exposure to U.S. government securities.

VGVT will offer exposure mainly to U.S. Treasuries—about 60% of the portfolio, with about 35% target exposure to agency-backed securities.

It will also have limited flexibility to opportunistically invest in certain non-U.S. government securities, such as high-quality asset-backed securities and non-agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS). VGVT will generally seek to maintain a 5% non-U.S. government allocation.

VTG: An all-curve index Treasuries ETF

VTG will invest in Treasuries from one year to 30 years, an option for advisors seeking a single-product solution for exposure to the entire Treasury yield curve instead of targeting duration using maturity-segmented ETFs.

VTG also stands out as a potential lower-cost alternative to competitors’ total Treasury ETFs.

VTP: An all-curve TIPS option

VTP will invest in U.S. TIPS securities across the yield curve and provide advisors with a single tool to help protect client portfolios from inflation risk while maintaining an intermediate duration.

VTP offers exposure to a sub-asset class not achievable in a broad-based index like the U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, so the ETF can be combined with a core bond position.

VTP has a competitive expected expense ratio of 0.05%, which is meaningfully lower than competing ETFs.³

Professional management

Vanguard has a long history of providing world class fixed income solutions to its investors managed by the Fixed Income Group (FIG), beginning with active funds in the late 1970s. It has been managing index funds since 1986, when it launched Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, the world’s first bond index fund.  

At Vanguard, FIG’s fixed income indexing and active investing capabilities are complemented by cutting-edge technologies and disciplined processes—positioning us to pursue tight tracking in our index strategies and to seek outperformance in our active products.

Discover more:

Vanguard Government Securities Active ETF (VGVT)

Vanguard Total Treasury ETF (VTG)

Vanguard Total Inflation- Protected Securities ETF (VTP)

Notes:

1 Expected expense ratios from latest preliminary prospectuses. The expense ratio information shown reflects estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.

2 Morningstar, Inc., as of May 31, 2025, and as of each ETF’s most recent preliminary prospectus. 

3 Morningstar, Inc., as of May 31, 2025. 

For more information about Vanguard funds or Vanguard ETFs, visit advisors.vanguard.com or call 800-997-2798 to obtain a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus. Investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information are contained in the prospectus; read and consider it carefully before investing.

Vanguard ETF Shares are not redeemable with the issuing Fund other than in very large aggregations worth millions of dollars. Instead, investors must buy and sell Vanguard ETF Shares in the secondary market and hold those shares in a brokerage account. In doing so, the investor may incur brokerage commissions and may pay more than net asset value when buying and receive less than net asset value when selling.

All investing is subject to risk, including possible loss of principal. Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss.

Bond funds are subject to interest rate risk, which is the chance bond prices overall will decline because of rising interest rates, and credit risk, which is the chance a bond issuer will fail to pay interest and principal in a timely manner or that negative perceptions of the issuer’s ability to make such payments will cause the price of that bond to decline.

Vanguard Total Inflation-Protected Securities ETF invests in bonds that are backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government and whose principal is adjusted periodically based on inflation. The fund is subject to interest rate risk because although inflation-indexed bonds seek to provide inflation protection, their prices may decline when interest rates rise and vice versa. The fund’s quarterly income distributions are likely to fluctuate considerably more than the income distributions of a typical bond fund. Income fluctuations associated with changes in interest rates are expected to be low; however, income fluctuations associated with changes in inflation are expected to be high. Overall, investors can expect income fluctuations to be high for the fund.

U.S. government backing of Treasury or agency securities applies only to the underlying securities and does not prevent share-price fluctuations. Unlike stocks and bonds, U.S. Treasury bills are guaranteed as to the timely payment of principal and interest. Note that some or all of the income from the U.S. Treasury obligations held in the fund may be exempt from state or local taxes.

BLOOMBERG® is a trademark and service mark of Bloomberg Finance L.P. MSCI is a trademark and service mark of MSCI Inc. (collectively with its affiliates, “MSCI”), used under license. Bloomberg Finance L.P. and its affiliates (collectively, “Bloomberg”), including Bloomberg Index Services Limited, the index administrator (“BISL”), or Bloomberg’s licensors, including MSCI, own all proprietary rights in the Bloomberg US Treasury 1–3 Year Bond Index, Bloomberg US Treasury 3–10 Year Index, Bloomberg US Long Treasury Bond Index, and Bloomberg US Treasury STRIPS 20–30 Year Equal Par Bond Index. Neither Bloomberg nor MSCI is affiliated with Vanguard, and neither Bloomberg nor MSCI approves, endorses, reviews, or recommends Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF, Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF, Vanguard Long-Term Treasury ETF, nor Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury ETF. Neither Bloomberg nor MSCI guarantees the timeliness, accurateness, or completeness of any data or information relating to the aforementioned indexes and none shall be liable in any way to Vanguard, investors in the aforementioned ETFs, or other third parties in respect of the use or accuracy of the aforementioned indexes or any data included therein.

The index data referenced herein is the property of ICE Data Indices, LLC, its affiliates ("ICE Data") and/or its third-party suppliers and has been licensed for use by Vanguard Total Inflation-Protected Securities ETF. ICE Data and its third-party suppliers accept no liability in connection with its use. See prospectus for a full copy of the disclaimer.