ETF Evaluator: Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF (VBND) Follow This ETF

Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF Overview

Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF (VBND) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Intermediate Core-Plus Bond exchange-traded fund (ETF). Vident Financial launched the ETF in 2014.

The investment seeks current income and long-term capital appreciation. The fund is an actively-managed ETF that seeks current income and long-term capital appreciation. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, in debt instruments that are principally traded in the United States. For purposes of the fund’s 80% policy, the fund may utilize the TBA markets for U.S. agency MBS investments, invest in dollar-denominated international bonds that are principally traded in the United States, and invest in private credit funds.

About Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF (VBND)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 4.39 years: Jeffrey Kernagis (2022), Jim Iredale (2015), Devin Ryder (2025) and Adam Longenecker (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 3 primary benchmarks: FTSE USBIG index with a weighting of 100%, Vident Core US Bond Strategy TR USD index with a weighting of 50% and Vident Core U.S. Bond TR USD index with a weighting of 50%. Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF has 177 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 35.7% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond ETF group. Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF has 8.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0% There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 97.8% (89.7% domestic bond, 8.0% foreign bond and 0.2% convertible bond). Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF has 10.1% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $510 million in total assets, which is below the $2 billion average for the Intermediate Core-Plus Bond category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

VBND Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF expense ratio is average compared to funds in the Intermediate Core-Plus Bond category. Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF has an expense ratio of 0.41%, which is 10% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 168%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 159% for the Intermediate Core-Plus Bond category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF returned 0.3%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Intermediate Core-Plus Bond category had an average return of 0.2%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF has a trailing yield of 4.25%, which is below the 4.56% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Vident U.S. Bond Strategy ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 1.1%, 0.1 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 4.0% over the past year (grade of D), 4.8% over the past three years (grade of D) and 0.4% per year over the past five years (grade of D) and 1.5% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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