Posted on by Micah McDonald

5 Best Short & Ultra Short Bond ETFs to Own Long-Term 1.6

  • Asset Category: U.S. Short Term Treasury / Short TermInvestment Grade Bonds

  • Long-Term Performance: 4.79% / 5.37% CAGR

  • Correlation to U.S. markets: -0.02 / 0.29

  • S&P 500 Performance (US Large Cap Blend): 11.05% CAGR

  • Back test timeframe: January 1983 – December 2022

  • Oldest ETF back tested: iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY)

  • Long-Term Performance: 1.62% CAGR

  • Correlation to U.S. markets: -0.22

  • S&P 500 Performance: 9.36% CAGR

  • Back test timeframe: August 2002 – December 2022

  • Number of ETFs available in this asset class: 99

  • Number of ETFs in this asset class that are 5-years old or older: 43

U.S. Short Term Treasury Bonds vs Short Term Investment Grade Bonds vs S&P 500: January 1983 – December 2022

SHY vs SPY: August 2002 – December 2022

SHY vs SPY: July 26, 2002 – January 27, 2023

The Deep Value ETF Accumulator rankings for the 43 oldest U.S. Short Term Treasury Bond & Short Term Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs: 

The 5 top ranked U.S. Short Term Treasury Bond & Short Term Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs head-to-head comparisons: 

JPST vs VCSH vs SPSB vs FLTR vs USTB: November 2017 – December 2022

JPST vs VCSH vs SPSB vs FLTR vs USTB: October 26, 2017 – January 27, 2022

Stated objectives of top 5 ranked U.S. Short Term Treasury Bond & Short Term Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETFs:

JPST – JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income ETF. Invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of short-term, investment-grade fixed- and floating-rate corporate and structured debt while actively managing credit and duration exposure.
Targets portfolio duration of less than one year; duration as of 9/30/22 was 0.27 years.

VCSH – Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF. Seeks to provide current income with modest price fluctuation. Invests primarily in high-quality (investment-grade) corporate bonds. Maintains a dollar-weighted average maturity of 1 to 5 years.

SPSB – The SPDR® Portfolio Short Term Corporate Bond ETF seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Bloomberg U.S. 1-3 Year Corporate Bond Index (the “Index”). One of the low cost core SPDR Portfolio ETFs, a suite of portfolio building blocks designed to provide broad, diversified exposure to core asset classes. A low cost ETF that seeks to offer precise, comprehensive exposure to US corporate bonds that have a maturity greater than or equal to 1 year and less than 3 years. The Index includes investment grade, fixed rate, taxable, US dollar denominated debt with $300 million of par outstanding, and is market cap weighted and reconstituted on the last business day of the month.

FLTR – VanEck IG Floating Rate ETF (FLTR®) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MVIS® US Investment Grade Floating Rate Index (MVFLTR), which consists of U.S. dollar denominated floating rate notes issued by corporate issuers and rated investment grade.

USTB – VictoryShares USAA Core Short-Term Bond ETF. An income-oriented, core building block of a global diversified portfolio. Same experienced in-house team managing the USAA mutual funds. Average portfolio maturity of less than 3 years might decrease volatility when interest rates change. Actively managed fund offers potential to outperform its benchmark.

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Respectfully yours, Micah McDonald, aka the Deep Value ETF Accumulator

Disclosure: We currently own shares of JPST and intend to buy more shares in the future. I am not a professional investment advisor. Please perform your own due diligence or seek the advice of a Registered Investment Advisor before investing in any security mentioned in this article. This website contains affiliate links to M1 Finance and Google AdSense.