VRIG vs VUSB

VRIGBInvesco Variable Rate Investment Grade ETF

VUSBAVanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF

In short

VRIG Most funds in the cash corner just roll Treasury bills. VRIG is the active floating-rate alternative: securitized and corporate paper whose coupons reset with short-term rates, built for current income with very low duration.

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

VRIG The actively managed ETF seeks current income while maintaining low portfolio duration as its primary objective; capital appreciation is secondary.

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

• VRIG Coupons reset as short-term rates move, which is how the fund keeps portfolio duration low while pursuing current income. Rate swings move floaters less than fixed-coupon bonds.invesco.com
• Active, not an index clone. Managers range across floating-rate securitized, corporate and agency paper, with at least 80% of net assets in investment-grade variable rate instruments.invesco.com
• Pays income monthly and spreads the work across roughly 400 positions instead of a short stack of bills.
• Trading since 2016, so the strategy has a track record covering both rising and falling short-term rates, and it stays actively traded on the screen.

• 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

• VRIG It charges 0.30% a year, against 0.19% for the typical fund in its short-duration group and 0.06% to 0.08% for bill trackers like VBIL and ICSH. Active credit work costs more.
• This is credit, not Treasury bills. The 80% investment-grade floor leaves room for lower-rated and fixed-rate holdings, and securitized paper can move when markets get stressed.invesco.com
• Floating coupons cut both ways. When short-term rates fall, the interest the portfolio collects resets lower with them.invesco.com

• 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 VRIG profile⁠

Full VUSB profile⁠