UTRE vs VGIT

UTREBUS Treasury 3 Year Note ETF

VGITAVanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF

In short

UTRE F/m built its Treasury lineup one maturity at a time, and UTRE is the 3-year slot. Instead of a 3-to-10-year blend, it tracks the current 3-year note index and pays monthly.

VGIT The middle of the Treasury curve, priced like an afterthought. VGIT holds government bonds maturing in 3 to 10 years for 0.03% a year, a quarter of what the typical Treasury fund in its peer group charges.

Stated mandate

UTRE The fund seeks, before fees and expenses, to track generally the price and yield performance of the ICE BofA Current 3-Year US Treasury Index.

VGIT Seeks to track a market-weighted Treasury bond index while maintaining an intermediate-term dollar-weighted average maturity.

Why people hold it

• UTRE Precision, not a blend: cohort peers SPTI and SCHR span 3 to 10 years, while UTRE aims at one point on the curve, the current 3-year Treasury note index.
• Tracking is the strong suit. The fund has stayed tight to its ICE BofA Current 3-Year US Treasury Index, which is the entire job of a Treasury tracker.
• Coupon cash comes monthly, a steadier drumbeat than a quarterly schedule.

• VGIT Charges 0.03% a year against a 0.12% median for Treasury funds in its peer group. In bonds, where the coupon does the work, that fee gap is most of the argument.
• Plain index work: it follows the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 3-10 Year Bond Index with very little slippage, one of the tighter implementations in its Treasury peer group.vanguard.com
• Running since 2009 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so spreads stay tight. Interest lands monthly.
• The portfolio is U.S. government paper only, a few dozen issues. No corporate borrowers to underwrite, no credit research required.vanguard.com

Worth knowing

• UTRE The 0.15% fee sits at the cohort median, but the broad index shops undercut it: SPTI and SCHR at 0.03%, XTRE at 0.05%.
• Small and thinly traded, so spreads can run wider than at the cohort's giants. That shows up most on large or hurried orders.
• Short by design: a 3-year note moves less with rate swings than a 10-year, in both directions. It is a curve tool, not a duration bet.

• VGIT Intermediate maturities cut both ways. A 3 to 10 year book reprices more when yields move than a bill fund does, so the ride is bumpier than cash-like Treasury products.
• Treasuries only means no corporate credit premium in the yield. Income comes strictly from government coupons, and the monthly payout drifts with rates.

Full UTRE profile⁠

Full VGIT profile⁠