The fund is passively managed to provide exposure to the investment grade segment of the US corporate bond space. It defines short-term bonds as bonds that mature within the next 1 to 5 years. This definition extends beyond many of its competitors 1- to 3-year coverage, but is still a reasonable take on the short-term space. Unsurprisingly, the fund has a weighted average maturity thats typically about 1 year longer than its peers. It usually has a higher effective duration too, meaning its more sensitive to changes in interest rates. The fund utilizes a sampling strategy to track its index. which means it will invest in a sample of securities that collectively have an investment profile similar to that of the underlying index.