VFSTX Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade Fund Investor Shares

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Vanguard average mutual fund expense ratio: 0.09%. Industry average mutual fund expense ratio: 0.50%. All averages are asset-weighted. Industry average excludes Vanguard. Sources: Vanguard and Morningstar, Inc., as of December 31, 2023.

Total returns: Short-term total return information is provided only as a service. Historical performance—particularly short-term performance—is no guarantee of future returns. Price, yield, and return on an actual investment will fluctuate, and you may have a gain or loss when you sell. Average annual returns include changes in price and reinvestments of dividends and capital gains. Since-inception returns for less than 1 year and year-to-date returns aren't annualized. Index performance is provided as a benchmark but isn't illustrative of any particular investment. You can't invest in an index.

Standardized returns: To see quarterly fee-adjusted returns, refer to the Price & Performance details.

Expense ratios: Expense ratios are displayed on Overview. For investments that are less than 1 fiscal year old, expense ratios are estimated.

Risk: All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest. Funds that concentrate on a relatively narrow market sector face the risk of higher share-price volatility. Investments in stocks or bonds issued by non-U.S. companies are subject to risks including country/regional risk and currency risk.

The fund is designed for investors with a low tolerance for risk; however, the fund’s performance could be hurt by: 

• Income risk: The chance that the fund’s income will decline because of falling interest rates.
• Interest rate risk: The chance that bond prices will decline because of rising interest rates. Interest rate risk should be low for the fund because it invests primarily in short-term bonds, whose prices are much less sensitive to interest rate changes than are the prices of longer term bonds.
• Credit risk: The chance that a bond issuer will fail to pay interest or 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. Credit risk should be low to moderate for the fund because it invests primarily in bonds that are considered high- and medium-quality.
• Call risk: The chance that during periods of falling interest rates, issuers of callable bonds may call (redeem) securities with higher coupon rates or interest rates before their maturity dates. The fund would then lose any price appreciation above the bond’s call price and would be forced to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the fund’s income.
• Extension risk: The chance that during periods of rising interest rates, certain debt obligations will be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated, and the value of those securities may fall. Extension risk is generally low for short-term bond funds.
• Liquidity risk: The chance that the fund may not be able to sell a security in a timely manner at a desired price. Liquidity risk is generally low for short-term bond funds.
• Manager risk: The chance that poor security selection will cause the fund to underperform relevant benchmarks or other funds with a similar investment objective.