JPST vs SGOV

JPSTAJPMorgan Ultra-Short Income ETF

SGOVAiShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF

In short

JPST An actively managed cash parking lot: JPST spreads short-term money across roughly 800 investment-grade bonds, floaters included, pays monthly, and has grown into one of the giants of the ultra-short aisle.

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

JPST JPST seeks current income while aiming to keep principal volatility low. It invests mainly in investment-grade, U.S.-dollar-denominated fixed, variable and floating-rate debt.

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

• JPST Roughly 800 investment-grade, dollar-denominated positions across fixed, variable and floating-rate debt, so no single issuer carries the load.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the most actively traded names in the cash-alternative group, which usually means tight spreads on the way in and out.
• 0.18% a year, a shade under the category median, with income paid monthly.
• Running since 2017, and one of the stronger implementations in its peer group.

• 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

• JPST It measures itself against 3-month Treasury bills but reaches into corporate and floating-rate credit to get paid, so it carries credit risk a pure Treasury fund does not.
• The share price floats. The mandate aims to keep principal volatility low, not to hold a fixed value.
• Cheaper shelf-mates exist in the same aisle: ICSH charges 0.08%.

• 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 JPST profile⁠

Full SGOV profile⁠