CLIP vs TUSI

CLIPAGlobal X 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF

TUSICTouchstone 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.

TUSI Most ultra-short funds buy T-bills and call it a day. TUSI is actively managed, roaming across maturities and instrument types in search of total return, at 0.25% net of a waiver through April 29, 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.

TUSI The Fund seeks maximum total return while preserving capital. It invests at least 80% of assets in fixed-income securities and uses a diversified portfolio spanning different maturities and instruments.

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.

• TUSI The mandate in plain English: maximum total return while preserving capital, with at least 80% in fixed income spread across different maturities and instruments.
• Benchmarked to the ICE BofA 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index, so the active calls are measured against plain bills rather than a softer yardstick.
• No style drift. What the portfolio actually holds lines up closely with the ultra-short income mandate it advertises.
• Pays monthly, which suits a cash-adjacent sleeve, and the fund has been live since its 2022 launch.

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.

• TUSI Active costs money: 0.25% net of a waiver through April 29, 2027 sits above the category median and above bill trackers like VBIL (0.06%) and CLIP (0.07%).
• The gross fee is 0.43%, so that 0.25% rests on the contractual waiver, which the board can end and which runs through April 29, 2027.sec.gov
• Not a pure Treasury fund. Shareholder reports break the portfolio out by S&P and Moody's credit ratings, so results ride on credit as well as rates.sec.gov

Full CLIP profile⁠

Full TUSI profile⁠