Vanguard Short Duration Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VSDM) Sharpe Ratio: 2.09

VSDM's Sharpe Ratio of 2.09 indicates that for each unit of volatility, it generates 2.09 units of excess return above the risk-free rate. The ratio is calculated using historical daily returns over the past 12 months (as of Apr 2, 2026).

Sharpe uses total volatility (standard deviation) which includes both upside and downside price movements, making it useful for comparing risk-adjusted returns across different assets.

VSDM Sharpe Ratio Rank

Exceptional

VSDM ranks above 90.7% of all investments in our database based on Sharpe Ratio over the past 12 months, demonstrating exceptional risk-adjusted returns. Securities are ranked from 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

What moves the rank

Strong returns with low total volatility → Higher rank
High volatility (both upside and downside) → Lower rank
Consistent returns → Higher rank than volatile returns of same magnitude
Sharp drawdowns increase volatility → Lower rank

What you can do with this information

Suitable as a core holding given strong risk-adjusted returns
Monitor rank changes to detect deteriorating return-to-volatility profile
Exceptional Sharpe ratio supports larger position sizes
Compare with category peers to assess whether strength is investment-specific or category-wide

VSDM Sharpe Ratio Market Positioning

The chart shows VSDM's Sharpe Ratio relative to all ETFs on our platform, with color zones indicating percentile rankings. Higher ratios indicate better risk-adjusted returns.

Red zone (bottom 25%): 0.49 or lower
Yellow zone (middle 50%): 0.49 to 1.45
Green zone (top 25%): 1.45 or higher
Top 1%: 5.90+
Median: 0.98 — half of all investments score higher

How it compares to other similar ETFs

The table compares Vanguard Short Duration Tax-Exempt Bond ETF's Sharpe Ratio with other ETFs in the Municipal Bonds category across multiple time periods, showing how VSDM's risk-adjusted performance compares to similar funds.

Data shows 1-, 5-, and 10-year periods, plus each fund's all-time average, as of Apr 2, 2026.

Symbol	Name	1Y Sharpe Ratio
GUMI	Goldman Sachs Ultra Short Municipal Income ETF	2.82
MEAR	iShares Short Maturity Municipal Bond ETF	2.81
FUMB	First Trust Ultra Short Duration Municipal ETF	2.59
STAX	Macquarie Tax-Free USA Short Term ETF	2.59
CGSM	Capital Group Short Duration Municipal Income ETF	2.54
CALI	iShares Short-Term California Muni Active ETF	2.52
SUB	iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	2.21
PUSH	PGIM Ultra Short Municipal Bond ETF	2.21
IBMP	iShares iBonds Dec 2027 Term Muni Bond ETF	2.17
VSDM	Vanguard Short Duration Tax-Exempt Bond ETF	2.09

Benchmark Against

Benchmark

S&P 500 Index

Lookback Period

How to choose period

Historical Sharpe Ratio

The chart shows VSDM's rolling Sharpe ratio over time compared to your chosen benchmark. Rising trends indicate improving returns relative to total volatility, while declining trends may signal deteriorating risk-adjusted performance or increased volatility. Use multiple timeframes to distinguish short-term fluctuations from long-term patterns.

Identify market cycles by observing when VSDM consistently outperforms (line above benchmark), underperforms (below benchmark), or aligns with the benchmark.

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Explore VSDM risk-adjusted metrics in detail

Dive deeper into individual metrics with historical trends, benchmark comparisons, and performance across different time periods.

VSDM Sortino Ratio