CLIP vs NUSB

CLIPAGlobal X 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF

NUSBBNuveen Ultra Short Income

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.

NUSB Nuveen's 2024 entry in the cash-parking aisle: an actively run bond fund that keeps duration near a year or less, leans investment grade, pays monthly, and charges less than the typical ultra-short ETF.

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.

NUSB The actively managed ETF seeks total return consistent with preservation of capital. It invests at least 80% in income-producing fixed-income securities, primarily investment grade, while seeking duration of one year or less, except that duration may reach two years in certain market conditions.

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.

• NUSB Charges 0.17%, under the 0.20% median for cash-alternative ETFs and a hair below JPST's 0.18%.
• Run by people, not an index: at least 80% in income-producing fixed income, primarily investment grade, with duration targeted at one year or less.nuveen.com
• Pays monthly, spread across roughly 140 positions, so income lands on a regular cadence instead of quarterly.

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.

• NUSB Thinly traded next to the category's household names, so bid-ask spreads can matter more on bigger orders.
• Cheap, not cheapest: ICSH runs 0.08% in the same aisle.
• Duration can stretch toward two years in certain market conditions, and holdings are primarily rather than exclusively investment grade. Not a T-bill stand-in.

Full CLIP profile⁠

Full NUSB profile⁠