What Is VCSH? Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund ETF Shares

VCSH is Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund ETF Shares, an ETF that tracks a short-duration US bond index at a 0.03% expense ratio. VCSH holds short-duration US bonds, bundled into one ticker. It charges 0.03%. It distributes about 4.44%, and that payout moves with rates rather than being fixed. It launched in 2009.

VCSH is issued by Vanguard and tracks a short-duration US bond index, so a single ticker gives you the whole portfolio of underlying holdings weighted by the index's methodology rather than by any active stock-picking.

VCSH does not hold a basket of individual stocks. It gets its exposure synthetically, through derivatives such as swaps and futures rather than by owning the underlying shares, so there is no conventional top-10 equity holdings list. See the description above for what VCSH actually tracks and how that exposure is built.

There are three common ways to get VCSH exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) of VCSH directly at any major broker that lists it. Hold it as a core position and layer more concentrated ideas on top. Or build it into a thematic portfolio in Walnut, so VCSH sits alongside other holdings that express the same thesis, with target weights you can rebalance toward. VCSH trades like a stock during market hours, so you buy it the same way you would any listed share.

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Whether VCSH is a good buy depends less on any single call and more on your time horizon and what you already hold: it tracks a short-duration US bond index, so the real question is whether you want that exposure in your mix and at what weight. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is VCSH a buy?

VCSH gives you a short-duration US bond index exposure in one ticker at a 0.03% expense ratio. Most investors use it as a core holding and layer more concentrated thematic portfolios on top.

Whether VCSH is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is VCSH a buy?

VCSH yields 4.44% as of August 2026, paid by passing through the dividends of its underlying holdings. For the payout schedule, history, and how the distributions are taxed, see VCSH dividend: yield and schedule.

New to funds like VCSH? Start with what an ETF is, then how to buy an ETF, or browse the full guide to ETF investing.