iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF costs less and returned more than State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF
The iShares fund returned 3.74% over the year ended Wednesday, September 30, 2026, against 3.66% for the State Street fund, about $8 on $10,000.
Key takeaways
The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF charges less than the State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF, and it returned more in the one-, three- and five-year periods ended Wednesday, September 30, 2026.
The iShares fund, SGOV, tracks the ICE 0-3 Month US Treasury Securities Index, so it can hold a Treasury bill with only days left. The State Street fund, BIL, tracks the Bloomberg 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index, which starts at one month and stops before three. Those cutoffs are in the iShares summary prospectus dated Monday, June 29, 2026, and the State Street summary prospectus dated Friday, October 31, 2025.
After fees, the yields are nearly tied
In the holdings list dated Saturday, October 10, bills maturing in October were 38% of the iShares fund. The State Street fund held November and December bills.
Yield to maturity is the average yield if the bills are held until they mature. It was 3.98% for the iShares fund as of Thursday, October 8, and 4.02% for the State Street fund as of Wednesday, October 7.
The iShares fund's average maturity was 0.11 years on that Thursday. The State Street fund's was 0.14 years on that Wednesday. Before fees, the State Street fund's longer bills were ahead by 0.04 percentage points.
The iShares fund charges 0.09% a year. The State Street fund charges 0.1353% a year, the expense ratio in its Friday, October 31, 2025 prospectus and on State Street's fund page. The difference is 0.0453 percentage points, or $4.53 a year on $10,000, whatever bill yields do next.
The fee gap of 0.0453 percentage points is wider than the 0.04 percentage point yield gap by about half a basis point. A basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point. After fees, on these portfolios, the iShares fund is slightly ahead, a near-tie.
What owners have been paid
Each issuer's total return on net asset value, as of Wednesday, September 30, 2026, puts the iShares fund ahead. The figures include the monthly payouts. Figures past one year are annualized.
The lead was 0.08 percentage points over one year and over three years, and 0.13 percentage points a year over five. On $10,000, the past year was $8, and the five-year gap was $13 a year, each more than the $4.53 difference in fees.
Which fund to own
As of Friday, October 9, the iShares fund held $115 billion and the State Street fund held $50.8 billion. Average daily trading is about $2.1 billion in the iShares fund, SGOV, and $0.93 billion in the State Street fund, BIL. Either fund is easy to buy and to sell.
The State Street fund launched in May 2007, and the iShares fund in May 2020.
If you are parking cash, own SGOV. You pay the lower fee, and in each window in the table the cheaper fund also returned more.
ETFs in this story
Frequently asked questions
How much less does the iShares fund charge?
The iShares fund charges 0.09% a year and the State Street fund charges 0.1353%, a difference of $4.53 a year on $10,000.
How much more did the iShares fund return?
The iShares fund returned 3.74% over the year ended September 30, 2026, against 3.66% for the State Street fund, and it also led over three and five years.
Do the two funds hold the same bills?
The iShares fund can hold a Treasury bill with only days left, while the State Street fund's index starts at one month and stops before three.
How large are the two funds?
As of October 9, the iShares fund held $115 billion and the State Street fund held $50.8 billion.
