CLIP vs JPST

CLIPAGlobal X 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF

JPSTAJPMorgan Ultra-Short 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.

JPST An actively managed cash parking lot: JPST spreads short-term money across roughly 800 investment-grade bonds, floaters included, pays monthly, and has grown into one of the giants of the ultra-short aisle.

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.

JPST JPST seeks current income while aiming to keep principal volatility low. It invests mainly in investment-grade, U.S.-dollar-denominated fixed, variable and floating-rate debt.

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.

• JPST Roughly 800 investment-grade, dollar-denominated positions across fixed, variable and floating-rate debt, so no single issuer carries the load.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the most actively traded names in the cash-alternative group, which usually means tight spreads on the way in and out.
• 0.18% a year, a shade under the category median, with income paid monthly.
• Running since 2017, and one of the stronger implementations in its peer 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.

• JPST It measures itself against 3-month Treasury bills but reaches into corporate and floating-rate credit to get paid, so it carries credit risk a pure Treasury fund does not.
• The share price floats. The mandate aims to keep principal volatility low, not to hold a fixed value.
• Cheaper shelf-mates exist in the same aisle: ICSH charges 0.08%.

Full CLIP profile⁠

Full JPST profile⁠