SGOV vs VUSXX: Treasury ETF or Vanguard Money Fund?
SGOV is an exchange-traded fund holding Treasury bills with three months or less to maturity; its market price moves a little each day and accrues toward the monthly distribution. VUSXX is Vanguard's Treasury Money Market Fund, a mutual fund that seeks a stable $1 share price, carries an investment minimum and settles under mutual-fund rules. Both hold Treasury securities. VUSXX can also hold repurchase agreements fully collateralized by Treasuries; wrapper, access and eligible state-tax income therefore need separate checks.
Projections assume the current yield and share price remain constant. Actual results will vary.
Total returns
100% reinvested · ex-date convention. Period returns use this fixed assumption, independent of chart settings. YTD and 1Y are cumulative period returns; 3Y, 5Y, and 10Y are annualized. The shared Since-start window is annualized only when it covers at least one year.
SGOV has outpaced VUSXX over the trailing twelve months, posting a 3.72% total return against 2.82%. The lead holds up over 5 years too: SGOV has compounded at 3.81% a year, against 3.70% for VUSXX. SGOV has been the steadier holding, though — annualized volatility of 0.2% against 1.2% for VUSXX. Figures are total returns: price change plus every distribution reinvested.
Total return and risk statistics by fund. Each row is one fund; each column is one period or statistic.
Total return with all distributions reinvested on the ex-dividend date (a modeling convention, not the cash-settlement date), split-adjusted, as of October 12, 2026. YTD and 1Y are cumulative period returns; 3Y, 5Y, and 10Y are annualized. The shared Since-start window is annualized only when it covers at least one year. “Since May 2020” measures every fund from May 28, 2020 — the start of shared available history — so all funds share one comparison window. Volatility is the annualized standard deviation of daily total returns over the trailing 3 years. Sharpe and Sortino divide the annualized return in excess of the risk-free rate by, respectively, that volatility and the downside deviation (both over the trailing 3 years) — higher is better. Max drawdown is the largest peak-to-trough total-return decline over the same window — shallower is better.
Short T-bill ETFs, from our catalog
SGOV tracks ICE 0-3 Month US Treasury Securities Index and pays monthly at a forward distribution rate of 3.59% with an expense ratio of 0.09%.
BIL, another short Treasury ETF in this catalog, tracks Bloomberg 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index at a forward distribution rate of 3.45% (Monthly) with an expense ratio of 0.1353%.
These are interest-like cash rates, not equity dividends. A covered-call or dividend ETF can pay more, and it can also lose principal.
Side-by-side snapshot
Side-by-side snapshot. Each row is one metric;
each column is one fund.
Seeks to track an index of U.S. Treasury obligations maturing in three months or less, investing at least 90% of assets in U.S. Treasury securities.
Seeks to provide current income while maintaining liquidity and a stable share price of $1. Invests at least 99.5% of total assets in cash, U.S. Treasury securities, and/or repurchase agreements collateralized solely by U.S. Treasury securities. The Treasury-focused mandate maximizes the share of income eligible for state and local income tax exemption.
Bottom lineSGOV and VUSXX are nearly interchangeable — both offer very similar treasury bills exposure with very similar cost and risk. The clearest tie-breaker is cost: VUSXX is cheaper at 0.07% vs 0.09%.
SGOV vs VUSXX: Treasury ETF or Vanguard Money Fund?
SGOV is an exchange-traded fund holding Treasury bills with three months or less to maturity; its market price moves a little each day and accrues toward the monthly distribution. VUSXX is Vanguard's Treasury Money Market Fund, a mutual fund that seeks a stable $1 share price, carries an investment minimum and settles under mutual-fund rules. Both hold Treasury securities. VUSXX can also hold repurchase agreements fully collateralized by Treasuries; wrapper, access and eligible state-tax income therefore need separate checks.
SGOV
VUSXX
Approach
0-3 month Treasury bill ETF
Treasury money market mutual fund
Risk review
Small market-price moves, bid-ask spread, reinvestment rates
Stable price is an objective, not a guarantee; repo exposure and fund minimums
ETFs and AUM reflect what Dividend Vision tracks — the issuer's full lineup may be larger.
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See our curated list of related YouTube videos on SGOV.
SGOV is an exchange-traded fund holding Treasury bills with three months or less to maturity; its market price moves a little each day and accrues toward the monthly distribution. VUSXX is Vanguard's Treasury Money Market Fund, a mutual fund that seeks a stable $1 share price, carries an investment minimum and settles under mutual-fund rules. Both hold Treasury securities. VUSXX can also hold repurchase agreements fully collateralized by Treasuries; wrapper, access and eligible state-tax income therefore need separate checks.
They hold the same kind of asset, so start with access. VUSXX is bought and sold at Vanguard and some other brokers under mutual-fund rules, with an investment minimum and a $1 price objective. SGOV trades on an exchange in any brokerage account at a market price with a bid-ask spread. Compare VUSXX's 7-day yield with SGOV's 30-day SEC yield on the same date, then check how much of each fund's income your state exempts from tax; both are largely Treasury interest, but the exempt share is reported each year, not fixed.
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Interest from U.S. Treasury securities is generally exempt from state and local income tax, but a fund passes that exemption through only for the share of its income that came from eligible government obligations, and some states set a minimum percentage. VUSXX can hold Treasury-backed repos; repo income generally does not qualify for that exemption. Both issuers publish that percentage after year end. Check it for the year you held the fund rather than assuming all of the income qualifies.
Current metrics use the dated snapshot above. Distributions can vary and may include return of capital; a distribution rate is not an expected total return.
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Frequently asked questions
Is VUSXX or SGOV better for holding cash?
They hold the same kind of asset, so start with access. VUSXX is bought and sold at Vanguard and some other brokers under mutual-fund rules, with an investment minimum and a $1 price objective. SGOV trades on an exchange in any brokerage account at a market price with a bid-ask spread. Compare VUSXX's 7-day yield with SGOV's 30-day SEC yield on the same date, then check how much of each fund's income your state exempts from tax; both are largely Treasury interest, but the exempt share is reported each year, not fixed.
How should I compare risk and ownership costs?
Compare the current expense ratios on the issuer pages, then the cost of getting in and out: SGOV has a bid-ask spread and trades at a market price, VUSXX has no spread but a purchase minimum and mutual-fund cutoff times. A distribution rate on this page annualizes a recent payout and is not the standardized yield either issuer publishes.
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