ICSH vs KCSH

ICSHAiShares Ultra Short Duration Bond Active ETF

KCSHBKraneShares Sustainable Ultra Short Duration Index ETF​

In short

ICSH BlackRock's active cash-parking sleeve, live since 2013: roughly 250 ultra-short investment-grade bonds and money market instruments, run for current income with preservation of capital, at 0.08% a year.

KCSH Most of this aisle is a Treasury-bill parking lot. KCSH is the climate-screened one: sub-one-year investment-grade corporate bonds filtered by ISS climate analysis for Paris Agreement alignment, with income paid monthly.

Stated mandate

ICSH The fund seeks current income consistent with preservation of capital through actively managed exposure to ultra-short-term investment-grade bonds and money market instruments.

KCSH Seeks investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the Solactive ISS Sustainable Select 0-1 Year USD Corporate IG Index. The index covers U.S.-dollar investment-grade corporate debt maturing within one year and aligned with the Paris Agreement.

Why people hold it

• ICSH At 0.08% a year it undercuts the typical cash-alternative ETF, which charges about 0.20%, and comes in below top-rated rivals like FLUD and JPST.
• Actively managed rather than a fixed ladder: the team picks across ultra-short investment-grade bonds and money market instruments, spread over roughly 250 positions.ishares.com
• Trading since 2013 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that changes hands actively, giving it one of the longer records in the cash-alternative aisle.
• Sits in the top quartile of its cash-alternative peer group, helped by high-quality holdings and low cost.

• KCSH The differentiator is the screen: ISS climate analysis, Paris 1.5C-by-2050 alignment and fossil fuel exclusions, applied to ultra-short corporate credit.kraneshares.com
• The index targets credit and rate risk similar to mainstream ultra-short investment-grade benchmarks, so the screen reshapes the issuer list more than the risk profile.kraneshares.com
• Roughly 160 short-dated corporate bonds, held physically inside a 1940 Act fund, with distributions monthly rather than quarterly.kraneshares.com
• Fee sits near the category median at 0.20% net of a waiver through August 1, 2028, a long runway for a screened product in a price-war category.

Worth knowing

• ICSH Not a money market fund. The share price floats, and preservation of capital is the stated aim, not a promise.ishares.com
• It holds investment-grade corporate paper alongside money market instruments, so it carries credit risk a Treasury-bill-only fund does not.ishares.com
• It pays monthly, but the amount rides short-term rates, and as an active fund its results can drift from its 6-month T-bill reference index either way.

• KCSH Bill funds are cheaper: VBIL 0.06%, CLIP 0.07%, ICSH 0.08%, no waivers. KCSH is 0.20% net of a waiver through August 1, 2028, and 0.30% gross if it lapses.
• This is corporate credit, not government paper. Investment-grade and under a year to maturity, but default and spread risk exist where a Treasury bill fund has effectively none.kraneshares.com
• Small and lightly traded next to the category's giants, and live only since 2024: spreads can be wider and the track record is short.

Full ICSH profile⁠

Full KCSH profile⁠