KCSH vs XHLF

KCSHBKraneShares Sustainable Ultra Short Duration Index ETF​

XHLFABondBloxx Bloomberg Six Month Target Duration US Treasury ETF

In short

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.

XHLF Most cash-parking funds pick a maturity bucket. XHLF picks a number: it blends Treasury bills to an average duration of about six months, resets to that target monthly, and charges three basis points to do it.

Stated mandate

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.

XHLF The Fund seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. Treasury securities.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• XHLF Costs 0.03% a year, against a typical short-Treasury peer near 0.14%. In cash-like funds, where returns come from bills everyone owns, fee is the main lever.
• Tracks an index built to hold an average duration of roughly six months, rebalanced monthly, so exposure stays anchored instead of drifting as bills mature.bondbloxxetf.com
• Sits in the gap between 0-3 month bill funds and one-year funds. Its sibling XONE targets a one-year duration at the same 0.03%, so the two can be mixed to dial in duration.
• US Treasury bills only, no credit bets hiding in the portfolio, run in a multi-billion-dollar fund that has stayed close to its index.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• XHLF Six months of duration is not zero. Prices move a touch more when yields shift than in 0-3 month bill funds such as BIL or CLIP.
• Income rides whatever Treasury bills happen to pay, and distributions arrive on an irregular rhythm rather than a fixed amount or schedule.
• Volume is moderate next to the largest bill ETFs, so spreads can be a bit wider, which matters more on big tickets than small ones.

Full KCSH profile⁠

Full XHLF profile⁠