BILZ vs VUSB: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active Exchange-Traded Fund

BILZANYSE Arca

Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF

VUSBACboe

Overlap

No data

Expense ratio

VUSB −0.04pt a year

BILZ0.14%VUSB0.10%

Avg volume · 30D

VUSB 9.9×the volume

BILZ200KVUSB1.97M

3Y return · a year

VUSB +0.7pt

BILZ+4.5%VUSB+5.2%

BILZ vs VUSB Performance

Oct 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

+3.7%BILZ+3.7%VUSB

Expense ratio: BILZ 0.14%; VUSB 0.10%, better
Fund size: BILZ $860M; VUSB $9.9B
1Y total return: BILZ +3.7%; VUSB +3.7%
Yield (12M): BILZ 3.80%; VUSB 4.27%, better
Holdings: BILZ 5; VUSB 1348
Avg volume (30D): BILZ 200K sh; VUSB 1.97M sh, better
NAV per share: BILZ $100.94; VUSB $49.62
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for BILZ, VUSB, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	BILZ	VUSB
Cost30% weight	A76	A84Higher
Mission25% weight	A100	A100
Risk15% weight	C44	C53Higher
Tradability15% weight	A76Higher	B66
Holdings10% weight	D38	A90Higher
Durability5% weight	B58	A89Higher

Rank among Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. BILZ and VUSB are both graded against the same 78 Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

Cash & Ultra-Short Income⁠

Category · 78 funds

See all 78 ›

VUSB ranks 3rd and BILZ 20th of 78 funds in the Cash & Ultra-Short Income Category.

Rank 1AICSHiShares Ultra Short Duration Bond Active ETFScore 85
Rank 2ACLIPGlobal X 1-3 Month T-Bill ETFScore 82
Rank 3AVUSBVanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETFScore 81
Rank 4ATBLLInvesco Short Term Treasury ETFScore 80
Rank 19AJPSTJPMorgan Ultra-Short Income ETFScore 73
Rank 20ABILZPIMCO Ultra Short Government Active Exchange-Traded FundScore 72
Rank 20AGSSTGoldman Sachs Ultra Short Bond ETFScore 72

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

BILZAPIMCO Ultra Short Government Active Exchange-Traded Fund

VUSBAVanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF

In short

BILZ Nearly everything in this corner of the market just tracks a T-bill index. BILZ instead hands the ultra-short government paper to PIMCO's bond desk, chasing maximum current income while preserving capital and daily liquidity. Pays monthly.

VUSB Vanguard's first actively managed bond ETF, run by its in-house fixed income team and priced at 0.10%. It holds investment-grade paper maturing inside two years: a step past a money fund, well short of a real bond fund.

Stated mandate

BILZ The Fund seeks maximum current income while preserving capital and maintaining daily liquidity.

VUSB The fund seeks current income with limited price volatility while investing in diversified high- and medium-quality fixed-income securities. It expects to maintain a dollar-weighted average maturity of 0–2 years.

Why people hold it

BILZ Active, not an index tracker: PIMCO's managers pick the short government paper, and the fund has stuck closely to its stated mandate.
Pays monthly, on a mandate built around preserving capital and keeping daily liquidity. Cash-adjacent plumbing rather than a rate bet.
The 0.14% expense ratio sits right at the median for its T-bill peer group, level with BIL, the big passive incumbent.
A multi-billion-dollar fund with steady two-way trading, built up since a 2023 launch.

VUSB At 0.10%, it costs half the typical ultra-short bond ETF and undercuts the other leaders in the group: SHV, PULS, FLDR and DUSB all charge 0.15%.
Active, not adventurous. The managers buy investment-grade bonds (A3-or-better high quality plus BBB-tier medium quality) and hold average maturity to zero-to-two years.vanguard.com
Income lands monthly, sourced from roughly 170 bonds, so no single issuer drives the outcome.
A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, and the same portfolio team also runs a similar Vanguard ultra-short fund.vanguard.com

Worth knowing

BILZ Index rivals undercut it: XONE charges 0.03% and VBIL 0.06% against 0.14% here. That gap is what active management costs.
Active means no plain bill index to check it against. Maturity and security mix ride on the manager's calls.
Launched in 2023, so its record covers only one slice of the rate cycle, and it sits in the lower half of its peer group.

VUSB This is not a money market fund. No fixed $1 share price, and the market price can trade above or below the value of the holdings.vanguard.com
The mandate allows BBB-tier credit, a notch of risk a Treasury-only neighbor like SHV doesn't take.vanguard.com
Bonds this short reprice with short-term rates, so the monthly payout drifts up and down instead of holding a set level.vanguard.com

Full BILZ profile⁠

Full VUSB profile⁠

BILZ vs VUSB Holdings

How BILZ and VUSB differ

No overlap figure

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues.

Level by level

Countryby domicile76.9%
Asset classFixed Income100%

Sector

No Sector split for BILZ and VUSB.

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in BILZ and VUSB, widest gap first
Country	More in BILZMore in VUSB	BILZ	VUSB
United States	BILZ +23.1 points	100.0%	76.9%
Canada	VUSB +7.2 points	0.0%	7.2%
United Kingdom	VUSB +3.5 points	0.0%	3.5%
Cayman Islands	VUSB +2.5 points	0.0%	2.5%
Japan	VUSB +2.1 points	0.0%	2.1%
Germany	VUSB +1.7 points	0.0%	1.7%
Australia	VUSB +1.6 points	0.0%	1.6%
Switzerland	VUSB +1.0 points	0.0%	1.0%
Other countries (13)	VUSB +3.6 points	0.0%	3.6%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

BILZ100.0%
VUSB11.2%

Securities held

BILZ4
VUSB1,342

Asset class

BILZ: Fixed Income
VUSB: Fixed Income

Holdings

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues, so this page lists no shared Holdings. BILZ holds 4 securities, VUSB 1,342.

All 13 BILZ holdings⁠All VUSB holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

BILZ vs VUSB Cost

Overpaying BILZ vs VUSB

$826

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

BILZ 0.14%
$2,932
VUSB 0.10%
$2,106

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

BILZ 0.14%
VUSB 0.10%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	BILZ	VUSB	Overpaying
10	$256	$183	$73
20	$1,000	$717	$283
30	$2,932	$2,106	$826

Expense ratio

0.14%BILZ
0.10%VUSB, cheaper

VUSB0.10%BILZ0.14%

0.03%1.00%

Middle half of Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds
Median 0.18%

VUSB 13th cheapest of 78 funds

BILZ 20th cheapest of 78 funds

BILZ vs VUSB Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): BILZ 3.80%; VUSB 4.27%, better
Payout (12M): BILZ $3.84; VUSB $2.12
Last payment: BILZ $0.31; VUSB $0.18
Ex-dividend: BILZ Oct 1, 2026; VUSB Oct 1, 2026
Paid on: BILZ Oct 5, 2026; VUSB Oct 5, 2026
Frequency: BILZ Monthly; VUSB Monthly

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

BILZMonthly · 39 paymentsAll BILZ payments⁠

VUSBMonthly · 45 paymentsAll VUSB payments⁠

BILZ vs VUSB Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: BILZ 0.2%, betterVUSB 0.8%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: BILZ −0.52VUSB 0.86, better
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: BILZ −0.5%since Jun 2023VUSB −1.7%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: BILZ 0.005VUSB 0.10; Market = 1

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