ICSH vs UYLD

ICSHAiShares Ultra Short Duration Bond Active ETF

UYLDCAngel Oak Ultrashort Income 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.

UYLD Angel Oak's ultrashort fund comes out of a securitized-credit shop, not a bill ladder: active, roughly 500 bonds, average maturity kept under two years and duration under one year, for 0.35% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027.

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.

UYLD The Fund seeks current income while aiming to limit price volatility and preserve liquidity. Its portfolio is managed to maintain a dollar-weighted average maturity below two years and duration below one year.

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.

• UYLD The mandate is specific: dollar-weighted average maturity below two years, duration below one year, aiming at current income while limiting price swings and preserving liquidity.
• Angel Oak built its business in securitized credit and runs this as one of its actively managed bond ETFs, a specialist lane rather than a Treasury bill tracker.businesswire.com
• Roughly 500 positions, monthly distributions, and over a billion dollars in assets: real breadth and scale for an actively run short-duration credit sleeve.

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.

• UYLD Cost is the trade-off: 0.35% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027 (0.56% gross), above the category median, while bill funds like VBIL at 0.06% and CLIP at 0.07% undercut it.
• The objective aims to limit price volatility, not remove it. This is active credit rather than Treasury bills, so the share price can move more than a pure bill fund's.businesswire.com
• In a peer group crowded with ultra-cheap bill trackers, it sits in the lower half of the field, mostly on price rather than on how it runs the portfolio.

Full ICSH profile⁠

Full UYLD profile⁠