FLGV vs GOVI

FLGVBFranklin U.S. Treasury Bond ETF

GOVIBInvesco Equal Weight 0-30 Year Treasury ETF

In short

FLGV Treasuries only, anywhere from 1 to 30 years, in one ticker. Franklin charges 0.09%, under the typical fee in its Treasury peer group, and the income lands monthly.

GOVI Most Treasury funds hold whatever the government issues most. GOVI builds a ladder instead: about 30 Treasuries, one maturing each February out to 30 years, each held in equal size.

Stated mandate

FLGV The Fund seeks income and normally invests at least 80% of net assets in direct U.S. Treasury obligations and related Treasury exposures. It may hold Treasury securities of any maturity, with primary emphasis on remaining maturities from 1 to 30 years.

GOVI The fund tracks an index of up to 30 U.S. Treasury notes or bonds arranged in an annual February maturity ladder spanning the yield curve.

Why people hold it

• FLGV One ticker for the whole Treasury curve: at least 80% of net assets in direct U.S. Treasury obligations, with the emphasis on maturities running 1 to 30 years.
• 0.09% a year undercuts the 0.12% median for Treasury funds in its peer group. On government paper, where yields are what they are, the fee is the lever you control.
• Pays monthly, and it is a multi-billion-dollar fund, so the income arrives on a predictable schedule rather than in quarterly lumps.
• Since its 2020 launch it has hewed tightly to its stated Treasury mandate, one of the closer mandate matches in a crowded Treasury peer group.

• GOVI Equal weighting means the ladder sets the curve exposure, not Treasury issuance patterns. Short, intermediate and long rungs each get the same slice.invesco.com
• The February maturity schedule is the whole design: a rung comes due each year and the ladder is rebuilt to span 0-30 years again rather than aging shorter.invesco.com
• Straight U.S. Treasury notes and bonds, no corporate or mortgage credit mixed in, and it pays monthly. Launched in 2007, so it has run through several rate regimes.
• It follows its ICE laddered Treasury index closely, which is what you want from a rules-based bond portfolio.

Worth knowing

• FLGV Cheaper shelf-mates exist: VGIT and VTG run 0.03%, a third of this fee. You are paying a bit more for Franklin's version of the same government paper.
• Moderately traded rather than one of the tape's busiest Treasury funds, so spreads matter more on large or hurried orders.
• Holdings can stretch out to 30-year maturities, so this carries real interest-rate sensitivity, not the calm of a T-bill fund.

• GOVI At 0.15% it is the priciest of its broad Treasury peers. SPTB charges 0.03% and GOVT 0.05% for cap-weighted exposure to the same government paper.
• Equal weight puts as much in a 30-year bond as in a 1-year note, so the portfolio carries more interest-rate sensitivity than a market-weighted Treasury fund.
• About 30 bonds on a fixed calendar is a deliberate slice of the curve, not the whole Treasury market. Trades moderately, so limit orders are the sensible habit.

Full FLGV profile⁠

Full GOVI profile⁠