SHV vs XHLF

SHVAiShares Trust iShares 0-1 Year Treasury Bond ETF

XHLFABondBloxx Bloomberg Six Month Target Duration US Treasury ETF

In short

SHV iShares' T-bill parking spot since 2007: nothing but US Treasuries maturing inside a year, rolled continuously, with income paid monthly. No corporate credit, no duration bets, 0.15% a year.

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

SHV The fund seeks to track an index composed of U.S. Treasury bonds with remaining maturities of one year or less.

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

Why people hold it

• SHV Treasuries only, by mandate. The index it tracks holds US government debt maturing in a year or less, so no corporate credit enters the portfolio.ishares.com
• 0.15% a year, below the typical ultra-short bond fund, from a multi-billion-dollar fund that has been running since 2007.
• One of the more heavily traded names in the ultra-short space, and it has hugged its benchmark closely, which matters when the whole return is T-bill yield.
• Income arrives monthly rather than quarterly.

• 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

• SHV Payouts float with T-bill rates. Holdings mature and reroll within a year, so income resets quickly in both directions.
• Cheaper exists: Vanguard's VUSB charges 0.10% among the top-ranked ultra-short peers.
• This is the quiet corner of the bond market. By design there is no credit spread pickup and almost no interest-rate exposure to work with.

• 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 SHV profile⁠

Full XHLF profile⁠