PULS vs VTI: Performance, Holdings, Fees & Risk
PULS and VTI are ETFs, but they can differ materially in exposure, yield, fees and risk. PULS is PGIM Ultra Short Bond ETF, while VTI is Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF. VTI is broader by holdings count, with 3,524 positions versus 1,033 for PULS. VTI is more concentrated at the top, based on top-10 holdings weight. Current AlgovestIQ evidence has VTI ahead on AIQ Score, 60 versus 55.
What is the main difference between PULS and VTI?
VTI holds 3,524 positions to PULS's 1,033, and 3% of their weight is in the same securities.
| Metric | PULS | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.03% |
| Holdings | 1,033 | 3,524 |
| Top-10 concentration | 6.9% | 33.2% |
| Distribution yieldTrailing 12 months | 4.38% | 1.05% |
| Average volume | 2,924,131 | 3,115,564 |
| Performance | ||
| 1Y return | -0.3% | +15.8% |
| YTD return | 0% | +12.5% |
| 5Y annualized returnTotal return, distributions reinvested | +4.4% | +11.4% |
| Risk | ||
| Annualized volatility | 1.3% | 13% |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -0.7% | -9.2% |
| Max drawdown (5Y)Total return, distributions reinvested | -0.8% | -25.4% |
| Beta | 0.00 | 1.02 |
| Sharpe ratio | -3.33 | 0.86 |
| Sortino ratio | -2.59 | 1.32 |
| AlgovestIQ | ||
| AIQ Score | 55/100 | 60/100 |
| AIQ Edge Score | 5/10 | 8/10 |
| Momentum | 58/100 | 51/100 |
| Risk Resilience | 67/100 | 86/100 |
AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison
PGIM Ultra Short Bond ETF vs Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF
VTI leads
VTI leads by 5 AIQ points, primarily on Risk Resilience and Quality.
Fragile: 4 of 4 evidence groups support VTI, and its current signal state is conflicted.
PGIM Ultra Short Bond ETF
Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF
The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors VTI over PULS, 60 versus 55 as of Oct 21, 2026. VTI's advantage is driven primarily by stronger risk resilience and quality, while PULS holds the stronger momentum profile. VTI also shows the stronger technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average. 4 of 4 covered evidence groups favor VTI today, and the comparison is rated Fragile on stability: the AIQ gap is narrow at 5 points. VTI lead: Stable — the AIQ differential has held near 5 points over 30 sessions.
Compare PGIM Ultra Short Bond ETF and Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF across performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, drawdown, volatility and the Algovestiq AIQ Score.
PULS vs VTI: which fits what
Each row is settled by a single measure. Where the gap is too small to matter it reads Similar, and no row decides the comparison as a whole.
| If you want | PULS | VTI | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower costExpense ratio | 0.15% | 0.03% | VTI |
| Broader diversificationNumber of holdings | 1,033 | 3,524 | VTI |
| Lower concentrationWeight of the 10 largest holdings | 6.9% | 33.2% | PULS |
| Higher incomeTrailing 12-month distribution yield | 4.38% | 1.05% | PULS |
| Smaller drawdownsMax drawdown, 5 years | -0.8% | -25.4% | PULS |
| Lower volatilityAnnualized volatility, 1 year | 1.3% | 13% | PULS |
Similar means the gap is within 0.01 percentage points of expense ratio, 25% more holdings, 3 points of top-10 weight, 0.2 points of yield, 2 points of drawdown or 1 point of volatility. Past drawdowns and volatility describe the funds’ history, not their future.
Performance over time
Total return with distributions reinvested, from daily closes for both ETFs.
Total return comparison
Growth of $10,000, distributions reinvested
Split-adjusted closes; each distribution is reinvested at the close on its ex-dividend date. Taxes and trading costs are not modeled.
Compare PULS and VTI against another ticker
Open a multi-ticker workspace without changing this focused pair page.
AIQ Factor Divergence
Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.
- Risk Resilience67 vs 86VTI +19
- Quality65 vs 74VTI +9
- Momentum58 vs 51PULS +7
- Value36 vs 42VTI +6
4 of 4 evidence groups favor VTI. VTI’s edge is concentrated in risk resilience and quality; PULS keeps a meaningful momentum edge.
What changed since the last close
Latest scored session 2026-10-20, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-19.
Largest factor move: Momentum +22
New signals
- RSI Overbought — bearish, momentum, short horizon
Largest factor move: Momentum +4
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 5 active signals are unchanged.
VTI's lead narrowed by 5 AIQ points in the latest session.
Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — PULS and VTI both carry a full feed there.
The central trade-off
VTI (Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF): the stronger current systematic profile, led by risk resilience and quality.
PULS (PGIM Ultra Short Bond ETF): the counter-case, on momentum.
Fund facts, side by side
Two funds tracking overlapping universes are separated by cost and risk far more than by holdings. Those lead here.
| Measure | PULS | VTI | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.03% | Lower is better — it compounds against you every year you hold. |
| Holdings | 1,033 | 3,524 | More holdings means broader diversification, not better returns. |
| Average volume | 2,924,131 | 3,115,564 | Liquidity — matters most if you trade size. |
| Annualized volatility | 1.3% | 13% | Lower is a steadier ride for the same exposure. |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -0.7% | -9.2% | The worst peak-to-trough loss over the past year. |
| Sharpe ratio | -3.33 | 0.86 | Return per unit of risk. Higher is better. |
| Beta | 0.00 | 1.02 | Sensitivity to the broad market. Neither direction is better — it depends on the role in your portfolio. |
Where the exposure actually sits
Sector exposure for each fund, ordered by the size of the difference.
How much of the same holdings they own
PULS and VTI share 3.44% of their weighted exposure across 39 common holdings.
702 holdings are unique to PULS, and 3,460 holdings are unique to VTI. Owning both is genuinely additive — most of the capital sits in different securities.
VTI is the more concentrated of the two: its ten largest positions are 33.24% of the fund, against 6.88% for PULS (3,524 holdings vs 1,033). Concentration cuts both ways — it is what drives outperformance when the top names work, and what makes the drawdown deeper when they do not.
Largest shared positions
| Holding | PULS | VTI | Shared |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMDAdvanced Micro Devices Inc | 0.38% | 1.08% | 0.38% |
| AVGOBroadcom Inc | 0.35% | 2.56% | 0.35% |
| NFLXNetflix Inc | 0.26% | 0.42% | 0.26% |
| SCHWCHARLES SCHWAB & CO INC | 0.35% | 0.24% | 0.24% |
| COFCAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP | 0.28% | 0.18% | 0.18% |
| BACBank of America Corp | 0.17% | 0.55% | 0.17% |
| IBMInternational Business Machines Corp | 0.15% | 0.29% | 0.15% |
| PEPPepsiCo Inc | 0.13% | 0.26% | 0.13% |
Shared weight is the lower of the two positions — the portion of capital both funds genuinely have in the same security.
What PULS adds that VTI doesn’t
| Holding | PULS | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| PAAAPGIM AAA CLO ETF | 1.93% | Not held |
| HEALTHPEAK OP LLC 0.0 23SEP26 144A | 0.68% | Not held |
| INTESA SANPAOLO SPA N Y BRH 01JUL27 | 0.65% | Not held |
| ALIMENTATION COUCH 0.0 06OCT26 144A | 0.63% | Not held |
| ALEXANDRIA REAL ES 0.0 18SEP26 144A | 0.59% | Not held |
| ALEXANDRIA REAL ES 0.0 14SEP26 144A | 0.51% | Not held |
What VTI adds that PULS doesn’t
| Holding | VTI | PULS |
|---|---|---|
| NVDANVIDIA Corp | 6.4% | Not held |
| AAPLApple Inc | 6.29% | Not held |
| MSFTMicrosoft Corp | 4.79% | Not held |
| AMZNAmazon.com Inc | 3.65% | Not held |
| GOOGLAlphabet Inc | 2.9% | Not held |
| AVGOBroadcom Inc | 2.56% | 0.35% |
Each list is a fund’s largest positions by weight that the other fund does not hold, or holds at less than half the weight.
AIQ Agreement Matrix
4 of 4 covered evidence groups favor VTI. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.
| Evidence group | Favors | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| AIQ Score | VTI | 55 vs 60 |
| Fundamentals | Not covered | Not covered |
| Valuation | VTI | Value 36 vs 42 |
| Technicals | VTI | Price vs 50-day 0% vs 0.2%; vs 200-day -0.1% vs 5.3% |
| Risk Resilience | VTI | Risk Resilience 67 vs 86 |
| Analyst expectations | Not covered | Not covered |
✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of PULS and VTI and are excluded from the count.
AIQ Decision Stability
The conclusion is sensitive to small changes. Treat the lead as provisional and watch the flip conditions below.
- The AIQ gap is narrow at 5 points. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
- 4 of 4 covered evidence groups point the same way. (supports the conclusion holding)
- The leader is throwing conflicting signals. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on VTI.
How the comparison changed
120 daily snapshots · Jun 21 – Oct 20VTI lead: Stable — the AIQ differential has held near 5 points over 30 sessions.
- Today
- VTI +5
- 55 vs 60
- 7 sessions ago
- VTI +11
- 48 vs 59
- 30 sessions ago
- VTI +6
- 54 vs 60
- 90 sessions ago
- VTI +14
- 52 vs 66
The lead changed hands 7 times in this window, most recently on Aug 25 when VTI moved ahead of PULS.
AIQ Signal Divergence
Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.
2 bullish / 4 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted
Only PULS
- Death Cross Active — bearish, trend, long horizon (0.09%)
- RSI Overbought — bearish, momentum, short horizon
- 52-Week Low Proximity — bearish, risk, long horizon (0.2%)
- Downtrend Structure Active — bearish, trend, long horizon
- MACD Bullish Crossover — bullish, momentum, short horizon
2 bullish / 1 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted
Only VTI
- Golden Cross Active — bullish, trend, long horizon (5.66%)
- MACD Bearish Crossover — bearish, momentum, short horizon
Both carry 3 more signals that do not separate them: ATR Contraction - Coiling, EMA Ribbon Compression, 52-Week High Proximity.
VTI leads the comparison while carrying a conflicted signal state, which is one reason the stability rating is not higher.
Price vs model alignment
Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.
Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price 0%, AIQ +6 points).
Price and the AIQ Score both moved up over the latest session (price +0.55%, AIQ +1 points).
What would flip this result
A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.
- 1PULS closes the Risk Resilience gap — currently 19 points behind, the largest single contributor to VTI's edge.
- 2PULS's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it.
- 3VTI's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 2 bullish and 1 bearish rules at once.
- 4A regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.
The full evidence
Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.
Performance
VTI leads 4 of 6 windows| Metric | PULS | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week (5 sessions) | 0.1% | -1.1% |
| 1 month (20 sessions) | -0.1% | -1.1% |
| 3 months (63 sessions) | -0.2% | 2.2% |
| 6 months (126 sessions) | -0.2% | 8.4% |
| Year to date | 0% | 12.5% |
| 1 year (252 sessions) | -0.3% | 15.8% |
Technicals
VTI has the stronger structure| Metric | PULS | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| RSI (14) | 86.7 | 55.2 |
| ADX (14) | 14.5 | 13.4 |
| Price vs 50-day | 0% | 0.2% |
| Price vs 200-day | -0.1% | 5.3% |
| Volatility (1M, annualized) | 1.2% | 9.8% |
Risk
VTI is the more resilient| Metric | PULS | VTI |
|---|---|---|
| Beta | 0 | 1.02 |
| Sharpe ratio | -3.33 | 0.86 |
| Sortino ratio | -2.59 | 1.32 |
| Max drawdown | -0.7% | -9.2% |
| Current drawdown | -0.5% | -1.9% |
| Annualized volatility | 1.3% | 13% |
| Value at risk (95%) | -0.1% | -1.4% |
Straight answers
Short answers to the questions fund investors ask about this pair, from the figures above.
What is the difference between PULS and VTI?
VTI holds 3,524 positions to PULS's 1,033, and 3% of their weight is in the same securities.
How much do PULS and VTI overlap?
PULS and VTI share 3.44% of their weighted exposure across 39 common holdings. 702 holdings are unique to PULS, and 3,460 holdings are unique to VTI. Owning both is genuinely additive — most of the capital sits in different securities.
Which ETF is more diversified, PULS or VTI?
VTI holds more positions: 3,524 versus 1,033 for PULS.
Which has the lower expense ratio?
VTI has the lower expense ratio, 0.03% a year against 0.15% for PULS.
Which ETF has the higher distribution yield?
PULS, with a trailing 12-month distribution yield of 4.38% against 1.05% for VTI.
Which ETF has been more volatile?
VTI has been more volatile over the past year, at 13% annualized against 1.3% for PULS.
Which ETF has had the smaller drawdown?
PULS fell less from peak to trough over the past five years: -0.8% against -25.4% for VTI.
Compare PULS and VTI with others
Continue your research
This page answers which of the two. These answer the questions on either side of it.
How this comparison is scored
The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.
The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.
How to use side-by-side comparison →This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.