CLIP vs DUSB

CLIPAGlobal X 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF

DUSBADimensional Ultrashort Fixed Income ETF

In short

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.

DUSB Most of this category just buys T-bills. Dimensional's ultrashort fund is the active one: corporates, bank paper and foreign dollar bonds, 0.14% net of a waiver through February 28, 2027.

Stated mandate

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.

DUSB The fund seeks to maximize total returns, consisting of income and capital appreciation. It generally invests in investment-grade fixed-income securities, usually maturing within one year, while maintaining a weighted average maturity of no more than one year.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• DUSB The prospectus lets it lean into longer-dated paper when the term premium looks bigger, and stay short when it doesn't, with weighted average maturity capped at one year.sec.gov
• Wider menu than a bill fund: Treasuries, agencies, corporates, commercial paper, bank obligations and dollar bonds of foreign issuers. Roughly 400 positions, paid out monthly.sec.gov
• Fee sits near the category median at 0.14%, net of a waiver through February 28, 2027 (0.15% gross), and it is one of the stronger mandate implementations in the group.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• DUSB Credit risk is the trade-off. Corporate and bank paper can widen in a stress episode in ways pure T-bill funds like VBIL and CLIP don't.sec.gov
• Costs more than the index bill crowd: 0.14% net of a waiver through February 28, 2027 against 0.06% for VBIL and 0.07% for CLIP. The active work has to earn that gap.
• Moderately traded and a 2023 launch, so it is younger and less busy than the category's biggest names.

Full CLIP profile⁠

Full DUSB profile⁠