Nuveen Ultra Short Income
$25.21+0.01 (+0.04%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.17%
- Fund size
- $159M
- 1Y return
- +3.8%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 4.20%
- Holdings
- 144
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $25.20
- 52W range
The ETF.net NUSB Grade
Score 63 of 100 sits in the B band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.BScore 56Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 100Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.CScore 43Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.CScore 41Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.AScore 75Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.DScore 37Category rank
Our read on NUSB
BNuveen's 2024 entry in the cash-parking aisle: an actively run bond fund that keeps duration near a year or less, leans investment grade, pays monthly, and charges less than the typical ultra-short ETF.
The actively managed ETF seeks total return consistent with preservation of capital. It invests at least 80% in income-producing fixed-income securities, primarily investment grade, while seeking duration of one year or less, except that duration may reach two years in certain market conditions.
Why people hold it
- Charges 0.17%, under the 0.20% median for cash-alternative ETFs and a hair below JPST's 0.18%.
- Run by people, not an index: at least 80% in income-producing fixed income, primarily investment grade, with duration targeted at one year or less.nuveen.com
- Pays monthly, spread across roughly 140 positions, so income lands on a regular cadence instead of quarterly.
Worth knowing
- Thinly traded next to the category's household names, so bid-ask spreads can matter more on bigger orders.
- Cheap, not cheapest: ICSH runs 0.08% in the same aisle.
- Duration can stretch toward two years in certain market conditions, and holdings are primarily rather than exclusively investment grade. Not a T-bill stand-in.
NUSB Holdings
- Bonds
- 144
- 14%
- US 2YR NOTE (CBT) DEC26
Geography
- United States88.50%
- Canada8.30%
- Australia1.22%
- Netherlands0.99%
- Ireland0.99%
NUSB Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Returns run to the Sep 22, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | NUSB |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +2.6% |
| 1 month | +0.2% |
| 3 months | +0.9% |
| 1 year | +3.8% |
| 3 years | — |
| 5 years | — |
| 10 years | — |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | NUSB |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +2.6% | |
| 2025 | +4.7% | |
| 2024 | +4.4% |
NUSB in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on NUSB yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
NUSB Dividends
- 4.20%
- $1.06
- $0.08 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2026 | Sep 2, 2026 | $0.08 |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Aug 4, 2026 | $0.09 |
| Jul 1, 2026 | Jul 2, 2026 | $0.08 |
| Jun 1, 2026 | Jun 2, 2026 | $0.08 |
| May 1, 2026 | May 4, 2026 | $0.08 |
| Apr 1, 2026 | Apr 2, 2026 | $0.08 |
| Mar 2, 2026 | Mar 3, 2026 | $0.08 |
| Feb 2, 2026 | Feb 3, 2026 | $0.08 |
| Dec 18, 2025 | Dec 19, 2025 | $0.11 |
| Dec 1, 2025 | Dec 2, 2025 | $0.09 |
| Nov 3, 2025 | Nov 4, 2025 | $0.09 |
| Oct 1, 2025 | Oct 2, 2025 | $0.10 |
NUSB Risk
- 0.4%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 0.99
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −0.2%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.01
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
NUSB Cost
- The middle half of Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds
- Median 0.19%
30 of the 77 Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds charge less.