CLIP vs VGUS

CLIPAGlobal X 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF

VGUSAVanguard Ultra-Short Treasury 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.

VGUS A one-ticker parking spot at the very front of the Treasury curve: about 90 bills and short notes, passively sampled, income paid monthly. Vanguard opened it in 2025 at 0.07%, under the typical Treasury fund in its peer group.

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.

VGUS Vanguard says the fund seeks to track a market-weighted Treasury index with an ultra-short dollar-weighted average maturity. It uses passive index sampling and generally invests at least 80% of assets in securities in, or economically similar to, the index.

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.

• VGUS 0.07% a year against a 0.12% median for Treasury funds in its peer group. Fees bite hardest at the short end, where there is no duration cushion to hide them.
• Government paper only: roughly 90 US Treasuries sampled against the Bloomberg Short Treasury Index. No corporate credit, no mortgages, no derivatives overlay.
• Tracking has been tight since launch, and the mandate is plain: at least 80% in index securities or economic equivalents. What it says on the tin is what it holds.
• Pays monthly and slots into Vanguard's Treasury shelf next to VGIT and VTG, so you can move along the maturity ladder without leaving the lineup.

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.

• VGUS Not the cheapest ticker on Vanguard's own bond shelf: VGIT and VTG run 0.03%. The ultra-short slice costs a few extra basis points.
• Ultra-short maturities mean income resets as short-term rates move, up or down. This is a cash-management tool, not a bet on falling yields.
• A 2025 launch, so the history is short and trading is moderate rather than heavy. Worth eyeing the spread on large orders in the first and last minutes of the day.

Full CLIP profile⁠

Full VGUS profile⁠