GSY vs TBLL

GSYBInvesco Ultra Short Duration ETF

TBLLAInvesco Short Term Treasury ETF

In short

GSY The active one in a cash-parking aisle full of index trackers. GSY has been hand-picking short bonds since its 2008 launch, keeping duration under a year and aiming to earn more than Treasury bills, with income paid monthly.

TBLL The bill fund that stretches to a full year. TBLL owns U.S. Treasuries maturing in one year or less and charges 0.08%, well under the typical fund in its 0-1 year Treasury group.

Stated mandate

GSY GSY seeks maximum current income while preserving capital and providing daily liquidity. It is actively managed and invests in diversified fixed-income securities with portfolio duration below one year, seeking returns above cash equivalents.

TBLL The fund invests primarily in U.S. Treasury obligations with maturities of one year or less and seeks exposure to the ICE U.S. Treasury Short Bond Index.

Why people hold it

• GSY Genuinely active, not an index clone: managers work across roughly 400 fixed-income positions with portfolio duration held below one year.
• Built for the boring job it advertises: maximum current income with capital preservation and daily liquidity, distributions paid monthly.
• A multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund with a track record dating to 2008, and a diversified book that ranks in the upper half of its ultra-short bond cohort.

• TBLL Charges 0.08% a year against a 0.14% median for its 0-1 year Treasury cohort, and undercuts BIL, the 1-3 month bill fund at 0.14%.
• Fishes the entire under-one-year curve, about 90 Treasury positions, instead of camping in 1-3 month paper like much of the peer shelf.
• Live since 2017 and a multi-billion-dollar fund, with index tracking among the tighter implementations in its 17-fund group.
• Distributions land monthly, and the portfolio is Treasury obligations only, so no corporate credit rides along.

Worth knowing

• GSY Active management comes at an active price: 0.22% a year, above the cohort median of 0.20% and more than double index-tracking VUSB at 0.10%.
• Not a bills-only portfolio. The mandate is diversified fixed income reaching for returns above cash equivalents, so credit risk is part of the recipe, unlike Treasury-only SHV.
• The ICE BofA US Treasury Bill Index is the yardstick, not the blueprint. Results come from the manager's calls and can land either side of it.

• TBLL Not the cheapest seat in the row: XONE runs 0.03% and VBIL 0.06%, so the cost gap is a few basis points.
• Reaching out to one-year maturities carries slightly more interest-rate sensitivity than a strict 1-3 month bill portfolio.
• Moderately traded rather than the volume leader of its category, so spreads deserve a look on larger orders.

Full GSY profile⁠

Full TBLL profile⁠