NUSB vs VBIL

NUSBBNuveen Ultra Short Income

VBILAVanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF

In short

NUSB Nuveen's 2024 entry in the cash-parking aisle: an actively run bond fund that keeps duration near a year or less, leans investment grade, pays monthly, and charges less than the typical ultra-short ETF.

VBIL Vanguard's cash-parking ETF: roughly two dozen Treasury bills, none maturing more than three months out, at 0.06% a year. It landed in 2025 and undercut most of the T-bill shelf on price.

Stated mandate

NUSB The actively managed ETF seeks total return consistent with preservation of capital. It invests at least 80% in income-producing fixed-income securities, primarily investment grade, while seeking duration of one year or less, except that duration may reach two years in certain market conditions.

VBIL VBIL seeks to track the performance of a market-weighted Treasury index with an ultra-short-term dollar-weighted average maturity, using a passive approach designed to follow the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bills 0-3 Months Index.

Why people hold it

• NUSB Charges 0.17%, under the 0.20% median for cash-alternative ETFs and a hair below JPST's 0.18%.
• Run by people, not an index: at least 80% in income-producing fixed income, primarily investment grade, with duration targeted at one year or less.nuveen.com
• Pays monthly, spread across roughly 140 positions, so income lands on a regular cadence instead of quarterly.

• VBIL It charges 0.06% a year, well under the 0.14% median for 0-1 year Treasury funds and under the category veteran, BIL.
• Plain passive mandate on the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bills 0-3 Months Index, tracked very closely. One of the tightest implementations in its peer group.vanguard.com
• Roughly two dozen bills backed by the US Treasury, every one maturing inside three months. Interest goes out monthly.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund with active daily trading, which tends to keep bid-ask costs small.

Worth knowing

• NUSB Thinly traded next to the category's household names, so bid-ask spreads can matter more on bigger orders.
• Cheap, not cheapest: ICSH runs 0.08% in the same aisle.
• Duration can stretch toward two years in certain market conditions, and holdings are primarily rather than exclusively investment grade. Not a T-bill stand-in.

• VBIL The payout floats with short-term rates. Monthly income rises and falls with what bills yield, and nothing about it is fixed.
• It opened in 2025, so its live record is short next to T-bill funds that have been running for years.
• Stretching maturity gets cheaper: peer XONE targets one-year duration at 0.03%, trading lower cost for more rate sensitivity.

Full NUSB profile⁠

Full VBIL profile⁠