State Street Ultra Short Term Bond ETF
$40.23−0.01 (−0.01%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.20%
- Fund size
- $514M
- 1Y return
- +3.1%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 4.18%
- Holdings
- 284
- Volume · 30D
- 0.1M sh
- NAV per share
- $40.27
- 52W range
The ETF.net ULST Grade
Score 60 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.CScore 42Category 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 46Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.BScore 57Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 76Category rank
Our read on ULST
BThe active option in a category full of index trackers: State Street's managers hand-pick roughly 300 short, high-quality bonds to squeeze income out of cash-adjacent money, and pay it out monthly.
ULST seeks to maximize current income while preserving capital and maintaining daily liquidity through short-duration, high-quality investments. It is actively managed and invests in securities somewhat longer-term than traditional cash vehicles.
Why people hold it
- Actively managed, not index-bound. The Bloomberg US Treasury Bellwether 3 Month Index is the yardstick, not the leash, so managers can shift across roughly 300 short, high-quality holdings.ssga.com
- Launched in 2013, it has run through a full rate cycle, from zero-bound years to the hiking era, with the same short-duration mandate.
- Income lands monthly, which suits the job it is built for: parking money that needs to stay liquid and still earn something.ssga.com
- It stays in its lane. The portfolio has hewed closely to the short-duration, high-quality brief in its own documents rather than drifting into longer or riskier paper.
Worth knowing
- At 0.20%, the fee sits right at the category median while several large rivals run cheaper (VUSB at 0.10%, SHV at 0.15%). Active management is what the gap buys.
- Not a money market fund. It holds paper somewhat longer than traditional cash vehicles, so the share price floats instead of pinning to a dollar.ssga.com
- Volume is moderate rather than category-leading, so bid-ask spreads carry more weight here than at the biggest ultra-short names.
ULST Holdings
- Bonds
- 284
- 52%
- US TREASURY N/B 02/27 4.125
Geography
- United States86.97%
- Canada3.66%
- Spain3.09%
- Japan2.14%
- United Kingdom1.91%
- Netherlands1.62%
- Ireland0.47%
- Australia0.05%
- 0.09%
ULST 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 23, 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 | ULST |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +2.0% |
| 1 month | +0.0% |
| 3 months | +0.6% |
| 1 year | +3.1% |
| 3 years | +4.7% |
| 5 years | +3.6% |
| 10 years | +2.7% |
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 | ULST |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +2.0% | |
| 2025 | +4.8% | |
| 2024 | +5.2% | |
| 2023 | +5.6% | |
| 2022 | +0.9% | |
| 2021 | +0.2% | |
| 2020 | +1.5% |
ULST in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on ULST yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
ULST Dividends
- 4.18%
- $1.68
- $0.14 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2026 | Sep 4, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Aug 6, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Jul 1, 2026 | Jul 7, 2026 | $0.13 |
| Jun 1, 2026 | Jun 4, 2026 | $0.14 |
| May 1, 2026 | May 6, 2026 | $0.13 |
| Apr 1, 2026 | Apr 6, 2026 | $0.13 |
| Mar 2, 2026 | Mar 5, 2026 | $0.12 |
| Feb 2, 2026 | Feb 5, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Dec 18, 2025 | Dec 23, 2025 | $0.17 |
| Dec 1, 2025 | Dec 4, 2025 | $0.14 |
| Nov 3, 2025 | Nov 6, 2025 | $0.15 |
| Oct 1, 2025 | Oct 6, 2025 | $0.15 |
ULST Risk
- 0.7%
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.
- 0.21
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.
- −1.2%
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.
- 0.10
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
ULST Cost
- The middle half of Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds
- Median 0.19%
40 of the 77 Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds charge less.