VBIL vs VNLA

VBILAVanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF

VNLABJanus Henderson Short Duration Income ETF

In short

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.

VNLA A cash-plus ETF with a passport: active managers roam global investment-grade debt, keeping duration within 0-2 years of the 3-month T-bill index. In a category packed with bill trackers, this one tries to beat cash, not mirror it.

Stated mandate

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.

VNLA VNLA seeks current income while emphasizing capital preservation and low volatility through an actively managed short-duration fixed-income strategy.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• VNLA Genuinely active: at least 80% in fixed income instruments, value hunted across sectors and geographies, duration held within 0-2 years of the 3-month T-bill index.sec.gov
• 0.23% net of a waiver through February 28, 2027 (0.25% gross), near the category median, which is modest for a globally managed credit strategy.
• Running since 2016, one of the earliest active ultrashort bond ETFs, now a multi-billion-dollar fund that pays income monthly.sec.gov
• Core is investment-grade debt rated Baa or higher, roughly 400 positions, so no single issuer carries the portfolio.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• 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.

• VNLA Costs more than the index bill trackers in the group (VBIL 0.06%, CLIP 0.07%, ICSH 0.08%), the price of an active manager making the calls.
• Credit and non-US holdings mean the share price can move more than a pure Treasury bill fund. Low volatility is the stated aim, not a floor.sec.gov
• The prospectus targets beating the 3-month T-bill index by a moderate amount over market cycles. That is an objective, and active calls can miss.sec.gov

Full VBIL profile⁠

Full VNLA profile⁠