CLIP vs TUSB

CLIPAGlobal X 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF

TUSBBThrivent Ultra Short Bond 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.

TUSB An actively managed ultra-short bond fund in a category dominated by index-tracking T-bill parking spots. Thrivent's bond desk picks the investment-grade paper itself, charges the category's typical price, and sends the income out monthly.

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.

TUSB The Fund seeks substantial current income while preserving capital.

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.

• TUSB Active by design: managers select the investment-grade bonds and keep dollar-weighted average maturity at two years or less, instead of tracking an index.investing.com
• 0.20% a year, level with the typical ultra-short bond ETF, for active credit selection rather than an index feed.
• Cash flow lands monthly, and the stated job is plain: substantial current income while preserving capital.
• What it holds lines up closely with what its prospectus says it does, and it stands in the upper half of the ultra-short bond 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.

• TUSB Thinly traded next to the category's giants, so spreads can be wider and larger orders need more care.
• Index-based rivals undercut it on fees: VUSB at 0.10%, SHV at 0.15%. The 0.20% here buys active management, not a lower sticker.
• It owns corporate credit, not only Treasuries, so the share price moves with rates and credit spreads. This is not a money market fund with a fixed price.investing.com

Full CLIP profile⁠

Full TUSB profile⁠