TUSI vs VUSB

TUSICTouchstone Ultra Short Income ETF

VUSBAVanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF

In short

TUSI Most ultra-short funds buy T-bills and call it a day. TUSI is actively managed, roaming across maturities and instrument types in search of total return, at 0.25% net of a waiver through April 29, 2027.

VUSB Vanguard's first actively managed bond ETF, run by its in-house fixed income team and priced at 0.10%. It holds investment-grade paper maturing inside two years: a step past a money fund, well short of a real bond fund.

Stated mandate

TUSI The Fund seeks maximum total return while preserving capital. It invests at least 80% of assets in fixed-income securities and uses a diversified portfolio spanning different maturities and instruments.

VUSB The fund seeks current income with limited price volatility while investing in diversified high- and medium-quality fixed-income securities. It expects to maintain a dollar-weighted average maturity of 0–2 years.

Why people hold it

• TUSI The mandate in plain English: maximum total return while preserving capital, with at least 80% in fixed income spread across different maturities and instruments.
• Benchmarked to the ICE BofA 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index, so the active calls are measured against plain bills rather than a softer yardstick.
• No style drift. What the portfolio actually holds lines up closely with the ultra-short income mandate it advertises.
• Pays monthly, which suits a cash-adjacent sleeve, and the fund has been live since its 2022 launch.

• VUSB At 0.10%, it costs half the typical ultra-short bond ETF and undercuts the other leaders in the group: SHV, PULS, FLDR and DUSB all charge 0.15%.
• Active, not adventurous. The managers buy investment-grade bonds (A3-or-better high quality plus BBB-tier medium quality) and hold average maturity to zero-to-two years.vanguard.com
• Income lands monthly, sourced from roughly 170 bonds, so no single issuer drives the outcome.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, and the same portfolio team also runs a similar Vanguard ultra-short fund.vanguard.com

Worth knowing

• TUSI Active costs money: 0.25% net of a waiver through April 29, 2027 sits above the category median and above bill trackers like VBIL (0.06%) and CLIP (0.07%).
• The gross fee is 0.43%, so that 0.25% rests on the contractual waiver, which the board can end and which runs through April 29, 2027.sec.gov
• Not a pure Treasury fund. Shareholder reports break the portfolio out by S&P and Moody's credit ratings, so results ride on credit as well as rates.sec.gov

• VUSB This is not a money market fund. No fixed $1 share price, and the market price can trade above or below the value of the holdings.vanguard.com
• The mandate allows BBB-tier credit, a notch of risk a Treasury-only neighbor like SHV doesn't take.vanguard.com
• Bonds this short reprice with short-term rates, so the monthly payout drifts up and down instead of holding a set level.vanguard.com

Full TUSI profile⁠

Full VUSB profile⁠