VCIT invests in intermediate-term U.S. corporate bonds, taking on a bit more credit risk (issuer default risk) than Treasury-focused funds like BND or AGG, in exchange for a higher 4.89% yield.

Its 1-year return of -4.1% is similarly negative to Treasury bond ETFs, since rising rates — rather than credit spreads — were the dominant factor. It's commonly blended with Treasury bond ETFs when investors want to boost the overall yield of a bond allocation.