VUSB vs XBIL: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF

VUSBACboe

US Treasury 6 Month Bill ETF

XBILBNasdaq

Overlap

No data

Expense ratio

VUSB −0.05pt a year

VUSB0.10%XBIL0.15%

Avg volume · 30D

VUSB 19.3×the volume

VUSB1.97MXBIL102K

3Y return · a year

VUSB +0.8pt

VUSB+5.2%XBIL+4.4%

VUSB vs XBIL Performance

Oct 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

+3.7%VUSB+3.7%XBIL

Expense ratio: VUSB 0.10%, better; XBIL 0.15%
Fund size: VUSB $9.9B; XBIL $792M
1Y total return: VUSB +3.7%; XBIL +3.7%
Yield (12M): VUSB 4.27%, better; XBIL 4.00%
Holdings: VUSB 1348; XBIL 2
Avg volume (30D): VUSB 1.97M sh, better; XBIL 102K sh
NAV per share: VUSB $49.62; XBIL $50.01
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for VUSB, XBIL, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	VUSB	XBIL
Cost30% weight	A84Higher	B66
Mission25% weight	A100	A100
Risk15% weight	C53Higher	C47
Tradability15% weight	B66Higher	C53
Holdings10% weight	A90Higher	D36
Durability5% weight	A89Higher	B62

Rank among Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. VUSB and XBIL are both graded against the same 78 Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

Cash & Ultra-Short Income⁠

Category · 78 funds

See all 78 ›

VUSB ranks 3rd and XBIL 27th of 78 funds in the Cash & Ultra-Short Income Category.

Rank 1AICSHiShares Ultra Short Duration Bond Active ETFScore 85
Rank 2ACLIPGlobal X 1-3 Month T-Bill ETFScore 82
Rank 3AVUSBVanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETFScore 81
Rank 4ATBLLInvesco Short Term Treasury ETFScore 80
Rank 27BGSYInvesco Ultra Short Duration ETFScore 66
Rank 27BXBILUS Treasury 6 Month Bill ETFScore 66
Rank 30BCGUICapital Group Ultra Short Income ETFScore 65

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

VUSBAVanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF

XBILBUS Treasury 6 Month Bill ETF

In short

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.

XBIL Most cash-parking ETFs hold a basket of bills. XBIL holds one: the newest 6-month Treasury, rolled every month. Pinpoint exposure to a single spot on the yield curve, in a wrapper that pays monthly.

Stated mandate

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.

XBIL The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the ICE BofA US 6-Month Treasury Bill Index. It is a passively managed ETF.

Why people hold it

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

XBIL Single-bond design. It holds the most recently auctioned ("on the run") 6-month bill and rolls automatically each month, so exposure stays pinned to that point on the curve.businesswire.com
Interest lands monthly instead of as a single lump at the bill's maturity, and shares trade in fractions of traditional bond sizing.businesswire.com
Sits further out the curve than 0-3 month bill funds like BIL and CLIP, capturing the 6-month rate rather than resetting every few weeks.
Part of a full single-security Treasury lineup from F/m, so the same mechanism exists at 3-month, 12-month and longer tenors if you want a different rung.fminvest.com ustreasuryetf.com

Worth knowing

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

XBIL At 0.15% a year it runs a hair above the typical fund in its group, and rivals like XONE (0.03%) and VBIL (0.06%) charge considerably less for short Treasury exposure.
Six months of maturity carries a bit more price sensitivity to rate moves than the 0-3 month bill funds it shares a shelf with.
A mid-sized, moderately traded fund rather than one of the category's behemoths, which can show up as wider bid-ask spreads.

Full VUSB profile⁠

Full XBIL profile⁠

VUSB vs XBIL Holdings

How VUSB and XBIL differ

No overlap figure

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues.

Level by level

Countryby domicile76.9%
Asset classFixed Income100%

Sector

No Sector split for VUSB and XBIL.

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in VUSB and XBIL, widest gap first
Country	More in VUSBMore in XBIL	VUSB	XBIL
United States	XBIL +23.1 points	76.9%	100.0%
Canada	VUSB +7.2 points	7.2%	0.0%
United Kingdom	VUSB +3.5 points	3.5%	0.0%
Cayman Islands	VUSB +2.5 points	2.5%	0.0%
Japan	VUSB +2.1 points	2.1%	0.0%
Germany	VUSB +1.7 points	1.7%	0.0%
Australia	VUSB +1.6 points	1.6%	0.0%
Switzerland	VUSB +1.0 points	1.0%	0.0%
Other countries (13)	VUSB +3.6 points	3.6%	0.0%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

VUSB11.2%
XBIL100.0%

Securities held

VUSB1,342
XBIL1

Asset class

VUSB: Fixed Income
XBIL: Fixed Income

Holdings

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues, so this page lists no shared Holdings. VUSB holds 1,342 securities, XBIL 1.

All VUSB holdings⁠All 2 XBIL holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

VUSB vs XBIL Cost

Overpaying XBIL vs VUSB

$1,031

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

VUSB 0.10%
$2,106
XBIL 0.15%
$3,137

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

VUSB 0.10%
XBIL 0.15%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	VUSB	XBIL	Overpaying
10	$183	$274	$91
20	$717	$1,071	$354
30	$2,106	$3,137	$1,031

Expense ratio

0.10%VUSB, cheaper
0.15%XBIL

VUSB0.10%XBIL0.15%

0.03%1.00%

Middle half of Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds
Median 0.18%

VUSB 13th cheapest of 78 funds

XBIL 23rd cheapest of 78 funds

VUSB vs XBIL Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): VUSB 4.27%, better; XBIL 4.00%
Payout (12M): VUSB $2.12; XBIL $2.00
Last payment: VUSB $0.18; XBIL $0.17
Ex-dividend: VUSB Oct 1, 2026; XBIL Oct 27, 2026
Paid on: VUSB Oct 5, 2026; XBIL Oct 28, 2026
Frequency: VUSB Monthly; XBIL Monthly

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

VUSBMonthly · 45 paymentsAll VUSB payments⁠

XBILMonthly · 44 paymentsAll XBIL payments⁠

VUSB vs XBIL Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: VUSB 0.8%XBIL 0.3%, better
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: VUSB 0.86, betterXBIL −0.52
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: VUSB −1.7%XBIL −0.1%since Mar 2023
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: VUSB 0.10XBIL 0.02; Market = 1

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