Is US Treasury 6 Month Bill ETF (XBIL) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Launched on 03/07/2023, the US Treasury 6 Month Bill ETF (XBIL) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Government Bond ETFs category of the market.What Are Smart Beta ETFs?The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.Fund Sponsor & IndexThe fund is managed by Us Benchmark Series. XBIL has been able to amass assets over $779.17 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Government Bond ETFs. XBIL seeks to match the performance of the ICE BOFA US 6-MONTH TREASURY BILL INDEX before fees and expenses.The ICE BofA US 6-Month Treasury Bill Index comprised of a single issue purchased at the beginning of the month and held for a full month. At the end of the month that issue is sold and rolled into a newly selected issue. The issue selected at each month-end rebalancing is the outstanding Treasury Bill that matures closest to, but not beyond, six months from the rebalancing date.Cost & Other ExpensesCost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.15%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 4.56%.Sector Exposure and Top HoldingsMost ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.Looking at individual holdings, United States Treasury Bill 10/23/2025 (912797QG5) accounts for about 99.74% of total assets, followed by United States Treasury Bill 10/30/2025 (912797NA1) and Cash & Other (Cash&Other).XBIL's top 10 holdings account for about 100.01% of its total assets under management.Performance and RiskThe ETF has gained about 1.58% so far this year and was up about 4.70% in the last one year (as of 05/28/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $49.89 and $50.21.The fund has a beta of 0.01 and standard deviation of 0.39% for the trailing three-year period. With about 3 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.AlternativesUS Treasury 6 Month Bill ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Government Bond ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) tracks Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index and the iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) tracks ICE 0-3 MONTH US TREASURY SECURITIES IND. SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF has $45.03 billion in assets, iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF has $46.81 billion. BIL has an expense ratio of 0.14% and SGOV charges 0.09%.Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Government Bond ETFs.Bottom LineTo learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox?Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week.Get it free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report US Treasury 6 Month Bill ETF (XBIL): ETF Research Reports SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL): ETF Research Reports iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks