BAMU vs CLIP

BAMUDBrookstone Ultra-Short Bond ETF

CLIPAGlobal X 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF

In short

BAMU Most of the T-bill aisle just holds bills and charges next to nothing. BAMU goes the other way: an active manager steering maturities inside a 0 to 2 year band off its own read on the yield curve, for 1.00% a year.

CLIP Treasury bills, one to three months out, at half the fee of the category's longtime giant. Global X launched CLIP in 2023 as the cheap challenger in the parking-lot corner of the bond market, and it has hugged its index tightly since.

Stated mandate

BAMU The Fund seeks current income. It is actively managed and invests at least 80% of assets in U.S. Treasuries and investment-grade corporate bonds with maturities from 0 to 2 years, plus related fixed-income ETFs; it does not seek to replicate an index.

CLIP CLIP seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Solactive 1-3 month US T-Bill Index. It invests in U.S. government Treasury bills with remaining maturities from one month to under three months.

Why people hold it

• BAMU Does what the prospectus says: at least 80% in U.S. Treasuries and investment-grade corporates maturing inside two years. Portfolio and mandate line up closely.sec.gov
• The adviser dials duration to its near-term rate outlook and the shape of the yield curve, a lever the index bill funds in this category do not have.sec.gov
• Not just bills: an investment-grade corporate sleeve and fixed-income ETFs can add income potential beyond Treasuries alone. Income is paid quarterly.sec.gov

• CLIP 0.07% a year, half the 0.14% median for its bill-fund cohort and half what category veteran BIL charges for the same one-to-three-month exposure.
• The mandate fits on one line: US Treasury bills maturing in one month to under three, roughly two dozen of them. Government paper only, no corporate credit slipped in.globalxetfs.com
• Sticks to the Solactive 1-3 month US T-Bill Index about as tightly as anything in its peer group, which is the entire job description for a bill fund.
• Distributes monthly, and it has already gathered billions in assets, so it is no thin-ice launch.

Worth knowing

• BAMU The 1.00% fee is above the category median, and above ICSH at 0.08%, VUSB at 0.10% and VBIL at 0.06%. On a 0 to 2 year bond portfolio, fee eats a real slice of yield.
• Thinly traded next to the category's household names, so spreads can be wider and limit orders matter more.
• Credit and active risk ride along: corporates and ETF positions are not Treasuries, and the manager's curve calls can land either way.sec.gov

• CLIP Income comes straight off short-term Treasury rates. Monthly payouts move up and down with those rates rather than sitting at a fixed level.
• It opened in 2023, so the track record is short next to the bill funds it undercuts on fee.
• Volume is respectable, not the deepest in the cohort, and a hair cheaper exists (Vanguard's VBIL at 0.06%). At these fee levels the gap is rounding error.

Full BAMU profile⁠

Full CLIP profile⁠