CLIP vs RAVI

CLIPAGlobal X 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF

RAVIBNorthern Trust Ultra-Short 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.

RAVI Active ultra-short bond investing since 2012, before most rivals existed: Northern Trust managers buying corporate, foreign and emerging-market paper, duration generally under a year. 0.25%, net of a waiver through March 1, 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.

RAVI RAVI seeks maximum current income while preserving capital and liquidity.

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.

• RAVI No index to track. Managers move across sectors by hand, keeping portfolio duration generally at a year or less and average maturity generally inside two years.flexshares.comsec.gov
• Reaches past Treasury bills: the fund may invest without limitation in foreign issuers, developed and emerging markets alike, alongside US corporate and asset-backed paper.flexshares.com
• Trading since 2012, which makes it one of the elder statesmen of ultra-short ETFs, with a record spanning zero rates, the 2022 hiking cycle and the years after.
• Pays monthly, and the portfolio has stayed inside its stated ultra-short, capital-preservation mandate.

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.

• RAVI At 0.25% (net of a waiver through March 1, 2027) it sits above the category median. Plain T-bill trackers like VBIL at 0.06% and CLIP at 0.07% cost a fraction.
• This is not a money market fund. Corporate, foreign and asset-backed holdings mean the share price floats and credit risk is real, even at short maturities.flexshares.com
• Volume is moderate rather than enormous next to the category's largest names, so spreads can widen; limit orders do more work here.

Full CLIP profile⁠

Full RAVI profile⁠