FLGV vs LGOV

FLGVBFranklin U.S. Treasury Bond ETF

LGOVCFirst Trust Long Duration Opportunities 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.

LGOV Most government bond ETFs just copy an index. LGOV is First Trust's active version: Treasuries plus agency mortgage bonds, deliberately run long, with a mandate to keep weighted average effective duration at eight years or more.

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.

LGOV The fund seeks current income while emphasizing capital preservation. It normally invests at least 80% of net assets in investment-grade debt issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies, or government-sponsored entities.

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.

• LGOV Actively managed, not index-shadowing: managers mix Treasuries with agency mortgage-related bonds and can trade them to-be-announced, including mortgage dollar rolls.ftportfolios.combusinesswire.com
• The duration promise is written down: the advisor targets a weighted average effective duration of eight or more years, so rate exposure is the point, not a byproduct.ftportfolios.com
• At least 80% of assets sit in investment-grade US government, agency or GSE debt, across roughly 180 positions, and the fund pays monthly.
• Live since 2019, so the active approach has a track record through a genuinely brutal stretch for long bonds rather than a backtest.

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.

• LGOV Active costs money: 0.49% a year against a roughly 0.15% median for Treasury-bond peers, with index options like GOVT at 0.05% and SPTB at 0.03%.
• Long duration swings both ways. Eight-plus years of duration means far bigger price moves per shift in yields than a short-Treasury fund.ftportfolios.com
• Mid-sized and only moderately traded, so spreads can run wider than the cohort's index giants, and mortgage bonds add prepayment and liquidity wrinkles Treasuries do not have.sec.gov

Full FLGV profile⁠

Full LGOV profile⁠