FTSD vs SPTS

FTSDCFranklin Short Duration U.S. Government ETF

SPTSAState Street SPDR Portfolio Short Term Treasury ETF

In short

FTSD Most short-government ETFs just clone a 1-3 year Treasury index. FTSD's mandate is wider: at least 80% in U.S. government, agency or instrumentality debt, run for current income and capital preservation since 2013.

SPTS U.S. Treasury notes maturing in one to three years, wrapped at three basis points. SPTS sits in the cheapest tier of the short-Treasury aisle, charging a fifth of the category median for the same plain-vanilla job.

Stated mandate

FTSD The Fund seeks high current income consistent with prudent investing and capital preservation, investing at least 80% of net assets in U.S. government, agency, or instrumentality securities.

SPTS The fund seeks to track the price and yield performance of the Bloomberg 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury Index before fees and expenses, providing exposure to U.S. Treasury securities with remaining maturities between 1 and 3 years.

Why people hold it

• FTSD The mandate reaches past plain Treasuries into agency and instrumentality paper, with at least 80% of net assets in government-backed debt and a stated goal of income plus capital preservation.
• Short duration by design, so a swing in rates moves it far less than a long bond fund does. Franklin has been running this one since 2013.
• Income lands monthly, and the fund has stuck closely to the mandate its prospectus describes.

• SPTS Charges 0.03% a year against a 0.15% median for short-Treasury funds. On cash-like money, the fee line is the part that doesn't drift.
• Follows the Bloomberg 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury Index closely, one of the tightest index fits among its short-Treasury peers.ssga.com
• Roughly 100 U.S. Treasury notes and nothing else. No corporates, no mortgages, no credit surprises hiding in the basket. Distributions land monthly.
• Trading since 2011 and now a multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund, so it isn't a thin newcomer you have to nurse in and out of.

Worth knowing

• FTSD 0.25% a year, above the 0.15% cohort median. The big index trackers (VGSH, SCHO, SPTS) charge 0.03%, so the broader government mandate carries a real price tag.
• Thinly traded next to the category heavyweights, which can mean wider spreads on the way in and out.
• The stated aim is current income and capital preservation, not capital growth. This is a short-end parking spot, and it behaves like one.

• SPTS Short maturities dampen price swings, they don't erase them. When short-term rates move, the fund's price and its payouts move too.
• Government paper only, so there's no credit spread in the income. The yield is whatever the front end of the Treasury curve is paying.
• VGSH and SCHO match the 0.03% fee on the same slice of the curve. Cost alone won't separate them; execution and platform access will.

Full FTSD profile⁠

Full SPTS profile⁠