ICSH vs SGOV

ICSHAiShares Ultra Short Duration Bond Active ETF

SGOVAiShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond 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.

SGOV A cash-parking tool that owns nothing but US Treasury bills maturing in three months or less, pays out monthly, and charges 0.09%. Launched in 2020, it has grown into one of the largest bond ETFs around.

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.

SGOV The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. Treasury bills with remaining maturities of three months or less.

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.

• SGOV 0.09% a year against a 0.14% median for its T-bill peer group, and it is very actively traded, which tends to keep the round-trip cost of getting in and out thin.
• One job, done plainly: track an index of Treasury bills with three months or less to run, and hand out the income monthly. Tracking has been close to the index.ishares.com
• Holdings mature in weeks, so interest-rate sensitivity is minimal and the share price moves very little when yields swing.ishares.com

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.

• SGOV Cheaper bill funds exist. VBIL lists at 0.06% and CLIP at 0.07%, so the fee advantage here is over the pricier half of the group, not the whole field.
• Income tracks short-term rates. Bills roll every few weeks, so the monthly payout resets quickly in whichever direction rates go.
• The flip side of near-zero duration: no price kicker when rates drop, the way longer-dated Treasury funds get.

Full ICSH profile⁠

Full SGOV profile⁠