SPAXX vs USFR: Money Fund or Floating-Rate Treasuries?
SPAXX is Fidelity Government Money Market Fund, the default core position in many Fidelity accounts, holding government securities and repurchase agreements with a stable $1 price objective. USFR is an ETF that holds Treasury floating rate notes whose coupons reset weekly off the 13-week bill auction, trading at a market price. Both track very short government rates; they differ in wrapper, access and how the yield resets.
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.
SPAXX has lagged USFR over the shared window since Sep 2025, posting a 3.40% total return against 4.03%. USFR has been the steadier holding, though — annualized volatility of 0.3% against 3.0% for SPAXX. 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 Sep 2025” measures every fund from September 2, 2025 — 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 shared window since Sep 2025. 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 shared window since Sep 2025) — higher is better. Max drawdown is the largest peak-to-trough total-return decline over the same window — shallower is better.
Side-by-side snapshot
Side-by-side snapshot. Each row is one metric;
each column is one fund.
Seeks as high a level of current income as is consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity. Invests at least 99.5% of total assets in cash, U.S. Government securities, and/or repurchase agreements that are collateralized fully by cash or U.S. Government securities. Commonly used as the default cash sweep in Fidelity brokerage accounts.
Track the performance of U.S. Treasury floating-rate notes (FRNs).
Bottom lineChoose SPAXX if you want Fidelity cash to earn a government money-fund rate with no trade. Choose USFR if you want Treasury exposure whose coupon follows bill auctions week to week. Not reliably in either direction. USFR's coupons reset every week to the latest 13-week bill auction plus a spread, so its yield follows the front of the curve quickly in both directions. SPAXX's yield moves as its holdings roll, which is also fast but not identical. Compare USFR's 30-day SEC yield with SPAXX's 7-day yield on the same date and subtract nothing further, since both are net of expenses. The distribution rate on this page is a third measure and cannot settle the question.
SPAXX vs USFR: Money Fund or Floating-Rate Treasuries?
SPAXX is Fidelity Government Money Market Fund, the default core position in many Fidelity accounts, holding government securities and repurchase agreements with a stable $1 price objective. USFR is an ETF that holds Treasury floating rate notes whose coupons reset weekly off the 13-week bill auction, trading at a market price. Both track very short government rates; they differ in wrapper, access and how the yield resets.
SPAXX
USFR
Approach
Government money market fund, Fidelity core position
Treasury floating rate note ETF
Risk review
Stable price is an objective, not a guarantee; repo exposure
Small market-price moves, bid-ask spread, weekly coupon resets
ETFs and AUM reflect what Dividend Vision tracks — the issuer's full lineup may be larger.
WisdomTree is known for developing thematic and factor-based ETFs that go beyond traditional market-cap weighting approaches. The issuer maintains a broad lineup spanning dividend and income strategies, international equities, commodities, bonds, digital assets, and specialized thematic areas like megatrends and alternatives. WisdomTree's diverse fund family appeals to investors seeking both traditional income exposure and more specialized strategies, with popular tickers across equity, fixed income, and alternative asset classes.
See our curated list of related YouTube videos on USFR.
SPAXX is Fidelity Government Money Market Fund, the default core position in many Fidelity accounts, holding government securities and repurchase agreements with a stable $1 price objective. USFR is an ETF that holds Treasury floating rate notes whose coupons reset weekly off the 13-week bill auction, trading at a market price. Both track very short government rates; they differ in wrapper, access and how the yield resets.
Not reliably in either direction. USFR's coupons reset every week to the latest 13-week bill auction plus a spread, so its yield follows the front of the curve quickly in both directions. SPAXX's yield moves as its holdings roll, which is also fast but not identical. Compare USFR's 30-day SEC yield with SPAXX's 7-day yield on the same date and subtract nothing further, since both are net of expenses. The distribution rate on this page is a third measure and cannot settle the question.
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A Treasury floating rate note matures in two years but its coupon resets weekly, so its price barely responds to rate changes: the interest adjusts instead. That is why USFR's price stays close to par through rate cycles without being fixed to $1. It is still a market price, and it can trade at a small premium or discount to the fund's net asset value during the day.
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
Does USFR pay more than SPAXX?
Not reliably in either direction. USFR's coupons reset every week to the latest 13-week bill auction plus a spread, so its yield follows the front of the curve quickly in both directions. SPAXX's yield moves as its holdings roll, which is also fast but not identical. Compare USFR's 30-day SEC yield with SPAXX's 7-day yield on the same date and subtract nothing further, since both are net of expenses. The distribution rate on this page is a third measure and cannot settle the question.
How should I compare risk and ownership costs?
SPAXX's expense ratio is the larger figure and is already netted from its 7-day yield. USFR's cost is its expense ratio plus the bid-ask spread on each trade and a one-day settlement before sale proceeds are fully usable. Weigh those against the convenience of cash that is already invested.
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