BKUI vs VBIL

BKUIABNY Mellon Ultra Short Income ETF

VBILAVanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF

In short

BKUI BNY's take on the parked-cash corner: an investment-grade ultra-short bond fund at 0.13% a year, spread across roughly 160 positions, paying income monthly.

VBIL Vanguard's cash-parking ETF: roughly two dozen Treasury bills, none maturing more than three months out, at 0.06% a year. It landed in 2025 and undercut most of the T-bill shelf on price.

Stated mandate

BKUI The fund seeks high current income while maintaining liquidity and limiting principal volatility. It normally invests at least 80% of net assets in investment-grade, U.S.-dollar fixed, variable or floating-rate debt or cash equivalents.

VBIL VBIL seeks to track the performance of a market-weighted Treasury index with an ultra-short-term dollar-weighted average maturity, using a passive approach designed to follow the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bills 0-3 Months Index.

Why people hold it

• BKUI 0.13% a year undercuts the ultra-short category's typical fee, and lands below top-rated peers like SHV, PULS and DUSB at 0.15%.
• The mandate is plain-spoken: at least 80% of net assets in investment-grade dollar debt (fixed, variable or floating rate) or cash equivalents.
• Income arrives monthly, and the book spreads across roughly 160 positions rather than a handful of bills.
• Sits in the upper tier of a crowded ultra-short field of nearly 30 funds on our review.

• VBIL It charges 0.06% a year, well under the 0.14% median for 0-1 year Treasury funds and under the category veteran, BIL.
• Plain passive mandate on the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bills 0-3 Months Index, tracked very closely. One of the tightest implementations in its peer group.vanguard.com
• Roughly two dozen bills backed by the US Treasury, every one maturing inside three months. Interest goes out monthly.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund with active daily trading, which tends to keep bid-ask costs small.

Worth knowing

• BKUI The goal is limited principal volatility, not zero. This is short-dated credit, not a deposit account, so the share price can move.
• With floating and variable-rate paper in the mix, the monthly payout floats with short-term rates instead of holding a set coupon.
• Trading is moderate rather than the deepest in the category, which matters most on large orders.

• VBIL The payout floats with short-term rates. Monthly income rises and falls with what bills yield, and nothing about it is fixed.
• It opened in 2025, so its live record is short next to T-bill funds that have been running for years.
• Stretching maturity gets cheaper: peer XONE targets one-year duration at 0.03%, trading lower cost for more rate sensitivity.

Full BKUI profile⁠

Full VBIL profile⁠