SGOV vs TBLL

SGOVAiShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF

TBLLAInvesco Short Term Treasury ETF

In short

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.

TBLL The bill fund that stretches to a full year. TBLL owns U.S. Treasuries maturing in one year or less and charges 0.08%, well under the typical fund in its 0-1 year Treasury group.

Stated mandate

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

TBLL The fund invests primarily in U.S. Treasury obligations with maturities of one year or less and seeks exposure to the ICE U.S. Treasury Short Bond Index.

Why people hold it

• 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

• TBLL Charges 0.08% a year against a 0.14% median for its 0-1 year Treasury cohort, and undercuts BIL, the 1-3 month bill fund at 0.14%.
• Fishes the entire under-one-year curve, about 90 Treasury positions, instead of camping in 1-3 month paper like much of the peer shelf.
• Live since 2017 and a multi-billion-dollar fund, with index tracking among the tighter implementations in its 17-fund group.
• Distributions land monthly, and the portfolio is Treasury obligations only, so no corporate credit rides along.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• TBLL Not the cheapest seat in the row: XONE runs 0.03% and VBIL 0.06%, so the cost gap is a few basis points.
• Reaching out to one-year maturities carries slightly more interest-rate sensitivity than a strict 1-3 month bill portfolio.
• Moderately traded rather than the volume leader of its category, so spreads deserve a look on larger orders.

Full SGOV profile⁠

Full TBLL profile⁠