Salim Ramji wasn’t kidding when he said he intended to expand Vanguard’s bond ETF lineup. The product development team has been incredibly busy this year, rolling out 15 new ETFs in 2025—their busiest stretch since 2010. The 11 new fixed-income funds show where Vanguard is placing its bets.
The newest, launched today, is the Core-Plus Bond Index ETF (BNDP). Think of it as Total Bond Market ETF (BND) “plus” a (roughly) 10% sleeve of high-yield bonds.
The new ETF tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Float Adjusted Index, charges 0.05%, and is run by Vanguard’s bond-index maestro, Joshua Barrickman.
The Junk Bond Trade-Off: Risk for a Quarter-Point
That small dose of junk bonds has historically provided a modest boost: about 0.25% per year in added return since the end of 1996.