BlackRock T-Bill ETF Approaches $100 Billion in AUM
Claire Weston
BlackRock's short-term Treasury ETF (SGOV) has reached $99 billion in assets with nearly $30 billion in net inflows this year, topping every other bond ETF — investors are parking cash in the safest spot available while they decide what to do next.
How big is $99 billion?
SGOV holds 0-to-3-month U.S. Treasuries and is now more than twice the size of its nearest competitor, ranking ninth among all U.S. bond funds.
It has averaged roughly $1 billion in net inflows per week this year, reaching the threshold in just five years since its May 2020 launch.
For comparison, BlackRock's flagship bond ETF — the $139 billion iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF — took about twenty years to cross $100 billion.
This means → demand for "earn interest first, allocate later" is concentrating into a single fund at an unprecedented pace.
Why are short-term Treasuries so popular?
The three-month U.S. Treasury yield sits at roughly 3.8% — down from the near-5.5% multi-year high in 2023 but still a meaningful return for near-zero risk.
Over the past five years, $1,000 invested in the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index grew to just about $1,004; the same amount in T-bills grew to nearly $1,200.
In plain terms = long-bond investors barely broke even over five years while T-bill holders pocketed close to 20% — hence Wall Street's catchphrase "T-bill and chill."
What is happening to long-dated and high-risk bonds?
Two higher-risk BlackRock bond ETFs — the iBoxx USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF and the 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF — each saw roughly $3.2 billion in net outflows this year, among the worst in fixed-income ETFs.
Year-to-date, the aggregate bond index is roughly flat; T-bill returns sit at about 1.9%.
This reflects a clear market mood: with rates elevated and inflation still above the 2% target, investors prefer shorter duration and certainty over long-bond volatility.
How does it differ from a money-market fund?
Money-market funds maintain a stable $1-per-share net asset value and distribute dividends as income; SGOV trades intraday, with share prices ranging from $100.28 to $100.74 over the past year.
The fee gap is notable: the average money-market fund charges about 0.24% in 2025; SGOV charges just 0.09%.
In plain terms = SGOV is cheaper and more transparent, but it reacts more slowly when the Fed raises rates — its holdings must wait for underlying Treasuries to mature before resetting, so it can temporarily lag money-market funds during rapid hikes.
What are the key variables ahead?
Tony Rodriguez, head of fixed-income strategy at Nuveen, said: "Short-end rates will stay in the 3%–4% range for a while."
Markets expect the Fed to raise rates at least once over the next year to combat inflation that remains above its 2% target.
This means → whether short-duration products keep attracting inflows hinges on two things: how far the Fed actually goes and when inflation truly returns to target — until then, the logic of "park in T-bills first" is unlikely to change.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.