# How State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/bil
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on BIL alone. It places BIL (State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF) against 20+ popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where BIL stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: BIL's full trading record, from May 2007 through September 2026. The crash tests reach back to 2000 using older funds and the S&P 500. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **What you're buying:** A correlation of 0.96 with SGOV (iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF) over 5 years: effectively the same bet as the larger fund.
- **Right now:** BIL has trailed the market, rising 1.8% over the past 6 months against 9.1% for the S&P 500 and 11.2% for the Nasdaq 100. Even so, both BIL and the S&P 500 are within a few percent of a record high.
- **Fund or market?:** BIL rose 0.9% over the past 3 months, in line with the treasury bonds ETF SGOV (iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF), which rose 0.6%. The S&P 500 rose 3.9%.
- **Long term:** Over the past decade, BIL returned 2.3% a year against 15.5% a year for the S&P 500 (25.8% in total against 321%). BIL's 10-year return of 25.8% puts it behind 86% of the ETFs with at least $100 million in assets with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 321%.
- **In a crash:** Across six sell-offs, BIL has typically lost about 1% as much as the S&P 500.
- **Diversification:** BIL is a real diversifier: a correlation of 0.17 with the S&P 500 over 5 years and 0.19 with the total US market, less closely than 97% of ETFs with at least $100 million in assets. On the flip side, it cushions stocks less than it used to: its correlation with the S&P 500 rose to 0.17 over the past 5 years, from -0.31 in the 5 years before.
- **Better options:** Nothing in the whole market did better on both counts: none of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than BIL with less volatility over the past 5 years.

## How much would $10,000 in BIL have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in BIL over the past 16 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of BIL over the same span and BIL's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in BIL at the end of September 2010 would have grown to $12,516 by September 2026, less than the $88,503 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the seven other investments on the chart ended ahead of BIL, and VCSH finished highest, at $14,959.

## BIL at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the fund, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- BIL is trading within 1% of its all-time high.
- BIL's deepest decline since it began trading in 2007 was 0.8%, from September to October 2008. It took about nine years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 18 full calendar years, BIL's best was 2024, when it returned 5.2%, and its worst was 2015, when it lost 0.1%. It lost money in seven of those years.

- Type: ETF, Bonds (Asset Management - Bonds)
- Trading since: May 30, 2007
- Assets: $51B
- Expense ratio: 0.14%
- Volatility (5 years): 0.3%; Sharpe ratio: 14.05
- Worst decline ever: −0.8%, from September 29, 2008 to October 17, 2008; back at its high by December 8, 2017

| Period | BIL total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +0.3% |
| 3 months | +0.9% |
| 6 months | +1.8% |
| year to date | +2.8% |
| 1 year | +3.7% |
| 3 years | +13.9% |
| 5 years | +19.9% |
| 10 years | +25.8% |

## BIL against the whole market

Where BIL ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does BIL rank among all ETFs?

This section ranks BIL on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every ETF worth at least $100 million with enough history.

- BIL is among the steadier ETFs: its price swings rank in the top 1% of the 1,560 ETFs with at least $100 million in assets, where the top is the calmest.
- BIL's 3-year return ranks in the bottom 8% of the 1,949 ETFs with at least $100 million in assets with 3 years of history.

| Measure | BIL | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +3.7% | 1,670 of 2,485 (top 68%) |
| 3-year return | +13.9% | 1,799 of 1,949 (top 93%) |
| 5-year return | +19.9% | 1,115 of 1,560 (top 72%) |
| 10-year return | +25.8% | 824 of 958 (top 87%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 0.3% | 1 of 1,560 (top 1%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 14.05 | 1 of 1,560 (top 1%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −0.2% | 2 of 951 (top 1%) |

## BIL against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against BIL, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do BIL's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- None of the 13 popular alternatives earned more than BIL over the past 5 years with smaller price swings, so every higher return on the map came with a bumpier ride.
- Over the past 5 years, BIL returned 3.7% a year, less than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with lower volatility (0.3% against 17.1%).

### Has BIL consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares BIL with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- None of the 22 popular alternatives outperformed BIL in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes. The closest was GSY.
- USFR outperformed BIL over all three long-term periods but in none of the five short-term ones, so BIL has had the better of it lately.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of BIL | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| BIL: State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (this page) | +3.7% | +13.9% | +19.9% | +25.8% |  |  | 14.05 |
| GSY: Invesco Ultra Short Duration ETF | +3.7% | +16.4% | +21.1% | +32.8% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 6.38 |
| ICSH: iShares Ultra Short Duration Bond Active ETF | +3.5% | +15.3% | +21.1% | +32.2% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 7.61 |
| NEAR: iShares Short Duration Bond Active ETF | +1.6% | +15.5% | +20.9% | +31.8% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 2.71 |
| USFR: WisdomTree Floating Rate Treasury Fund | +4.0% | +14.5% | +21.6% | +28.2% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 9.69 |
| MINT: PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Exchange-Traded Fund | +4.2% | +15.8% | +20.3% | +31.4% | 1/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 6.29 |
| XONE: BondBloxx Bloomberg One Year Target Duration US Treasury ETF | +2.9% | +13.6% | +161% | +379% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.68 |
| SPSB: State Street SPDR Portfolio Short Term Corporate Bond ETF | +2.0% | +16.3% | +14.9% | +29.2% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 1.38 |
| [VCSH](https://easycompare.io/research/vcsh): Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF | +0.7% | +17.0% | +12.1% | +28.6% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.80 |
| TFLO: iShares Treasury Floating Rate Bond ETF | +4.0% | +14.3% | +21.4% | +28.0% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 10.49 |
| [JPST](https://easycompare.io/research/jpst): JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income ETF | +3.4% | +15.5% | +20.8% | — | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 6.34 |
| GBIL: Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF | +3.6% | +13.9% | +19.3% | +26.2% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 6.20 |
| SHV: iShares Trust iShares 0-1 Year Treasury Bond ETF | +3.6% | +13.9% | +19.4% | +26.1% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 12.09 |
| TIP: iShares TIPS Bond ETF | −1.5% | +13.3% | −0.3% | +23.5% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.02 |
| SCHO: Schwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETF | +1.5% | +12.8% | +10.1% | +18.9% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.96 |
| VGSH: Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF | +1.2% | +12.5% | +9.9% | +18.8% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.95 |
| SHY: iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF | +1.1% | +12.1% | +9.3% | +17.7% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.89 |
| BILS: State Street SPDR Bloomberg 3-12 Month T-Bill ETF | +3.6% | +13.9% | +19.2% | — | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 11.25 |
| BILZ: PIMCO Ultra Short Government Active Exchange-Traded Fund | +3.7% | +14.0% | — | — | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | — |
| CLIP: Global X - 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF | +3.7% | +14.1% | — | — | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | — |
| [SGOV](https://easycompare.io/research/sgov): iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF | +3.4% | +13.8% | +20.3% | — | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 13.25 |
| TBIL: F/m US Treasury 3 Month Bill Fund | +3.7% | +13.9% | — | — | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | — |
| XHLF: BondBloxx Bloomberg Six Month Target Duration US Treasury ETF | +3.5% | +13.8% | — | — | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | — |

### How did BIL do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 2008, along with where BIL ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- BIL finished ahead of the S&P 500 in three of its 18 full calendar years, and behind it in each of the last three.
- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, BIL finished in the top quarter in one of 16 years and in the bottom quarter in eight. In 2025, it ranked 13 of 14.
- Among its popular alternatives, MINT came out ahead of BIL most often, in 12 of the 16 years both traded.

| Year | BIL | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +4.1% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +5.2% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +5.0% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | +1.4% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | −0.1% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | +0.4% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +2.0% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | +1.7% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +0.7% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +0.1% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How BIL has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### How did BIL do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far BIL, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- BIL fell less than the S&P 500 in all nine crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2008 financial crisis, when BIL fell 0.8% and the S&P 500 fell 55.2%.
- None of its popular alternatives fell less than BIL in most of the crashes they both traded through.

| Crash | Dates | BIL fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | not trading | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −0.8% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | 0.0% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | 0.0% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −0.1% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | 0.0% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | 0.0% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | 0.0% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | 0.0% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | 0.0% | −3.4% |

### How closely does BIL move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- Over the past 10 years, BIL captured 5% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and -5% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of -0.00. That is a defensive profile: it gave up some of the market's upside in exchange for smaller losses.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| BIL: State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (this page) | 5.0% | −5.0% | 0.00 |
| GSY: Invesco Ultra Short Duration ETF | 8.0% | −2.0% | 0.03 |
| ICSH: iShares Ultra Short Duration Bond Active ETF | 7.0% | −4.0% | 0.02 |
| NEAR: iShares Short Duration Bond Active ETF | 9.0% | 0.0% | 0.05 |
| USFR: WisdomTree Floating Rate Treasury Fund | 6.0% | −6.0% | 0.00 |
| MINT: PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Exchange-Traded Fund | 8.0% | −2.0% | 0.04 |
| SPSB: State Street SPDR Portfolio Short Term Corporate Bond ETF | 10.0% | 4.0% | 0.07 |
| [VCSH](https://easycompare.io/research/vcsh): Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF | 13.0% | 9.0% | 0.11 |
| GBIL: Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF | 6.0% | −4.0% | 0.00 |
| TIP: iShares TIPS Bond ETF | 15.0% | 17.0% | 0.18 |
| SCHO: Schwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETF | 5.0% | −1.0% | 0.01 |
| SHY: iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 5.0% | −1.0% | 0.01 |

### What diversifies BIL?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- MCK made money in six of the seven calendar years in which BIL lost money.
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and EMLP have moved largely independently of BIL over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.17 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- Among large stocks, CAH, CLS and FIX have moved largely independently of BIL over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.17 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.

| Investment | Correlation with BIL | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in BIL's 7 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | 0.10 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 1 of 7 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.17 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 5 of 7 |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | -0.05 | +101% | 14.5% | 1.04 | 3 of 7 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | -0.05 | +83.3% | 13.0% | 1.00 | 4 of 7 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.15 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 6 of 7 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.14 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 5 of 7 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.15 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 3 of 7 |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | 0.18 | +136% | 20.8% | 0.93 | 1 of 7 |

## Common questions

### What was BIL's worst drawdown?

BIL's deepest decline since it began trading in 2007 was 0.8%, from September to October 2008. It took about nine years from the low to climb back to its old high. Because BIL launched in May 2007, that record does not include the dot-com bust.

### What were BIL's best and worst years?

Over 18 full calendar years, BIL's best year was 2024, when it returned 5.2%. Its worst was 2015, with a return of -0.1%.

### What are the best alternatives to BIL?

None of the 22 popular alternatives we compared outperformed BIL in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, which says more about BIL's strength than about its alternatives.

### Did BIL outperform the S&P 500?

BIL finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in three of 18 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +4.1%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did BIL do in stock market crashes?

BIL fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in nine of the nine major crashes it has traded through, and further in no. The clearest case was the 2008 financial crisis, when BIL fell 0.8% and the S&P 500 fell 55.2%.

### What diversifies BIL?

These had a low correlation with BIL over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation 0.10), DXJ (correlation 0.17) and EMLP (correlation -0.05); among large stocks, CAH (correlation -0.04), CLS (correlation 0.17) and FIX (correlation 0.03). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

- [Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF (VCSH) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/vcsh)
- [JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income ETF (JPST) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/jpst)
- [iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/sgov)
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## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/bil
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against BIL live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=BIL&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research