SHY vs BIL Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
SHY and BIL are both ultra-low-risk US Treasury ETFs for capital preservation, but at different maturities. BIL holds 1–3 month T-bills with near-zero duration — true cash equivalent. SHY holds 1–3 year Treasury bonds with slightly more duration — minimal but real interest rate sensitivity. In high-rate environments, both yield attractively. BIL is for cash parking; SHY is for slightly longer safe fixed income with marginally higher yield.
SHY vs BIL is short-term Treasury bonds with 1.9-year duration for slightly higher yield (SHY) versus money market-equivalent Treasury bills with near-zero duration for pure cash preservation (BIL) — BIL for cash parking with zero principal risk; SHY for the next step up in yield with minimal but real duration exposure.
BIL holds the edge across 5 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. BIL has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+3.68% vs +1.54% for SHY).
- prefer slightly longer 1–3 year Treasury bonds for marginally higher yield than T-bills while maintaining very low duration risk
- value SHY's established iShares ETF structure for institutional bond portfolio short-end allocation
- want short-term safe fixed income as a defensive allocation with enough duration to outperform T-bills in falling rate environments
- are comfortable with the small duration risk (1.9 years) that causes minor price fluctuations during Fed rate cycles
- prefer true cash-equivalent Treasury bill exposure with essentially zero principal risk regardless of interest rate changes
- value BIL as a tactical cash parking vehicle earning money market yields while maintaining complete flexibility to redeploy quickly
- want US Treasury money market equivalent in an ETF form that can be held in brokerage accounts alongside equity portfolios
- are comfortable with yield declining rapidly when the Fed cuts rates — BIL income tracks the overnight rate closely
| Metric | SHY | BIL |
|---|---|---|
| ETF scorei | 35.0 | 39.0 |
| Latest closei | $81.24 | $91.55 |
| 1M returni | -0.70% | +0.28% |
| 6M returni | +0.48% | +1.77% |
| 1Y returni | +1.54% | +3.68% |
The ETF score weights long-term returns and risk-adjusted performance most heavily, but still rewards low expense ratios, larger fund size, and broader diversification — so it can favor low-cost, broad, mega-cap funds over smaller thematic or actively-managed funds even when the latter have delivered stronger returns.
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | SHY | BIL |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $10.53K (+5.3%) started 2025-09-18 | $10.77K (+7.7%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $12.73K (+27.3%) started 2021-09-20 | $14.51K (+45.1%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $14.78K (+47.8%) started 2016-09-19 | $16.13K (+61.3%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | SHY | BIL |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratioi | 0.15% | 0.14% |
| Total assets (AUM)i | $25.91B | $46.75B |
| Dividend yieldi | 3.63% | 3.76% |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 0.05 | 0.00 |
| 52-week change | 1.54% | 3.68% |
| Metric | SHY | BIL |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y returni | +1.54% | +3.68% |
| 6M returni | +0.48% | +1.77% |
| 1M returni | -0.70% | +0.28% |
| 1Y Sharpe ratio | -2.22 | -4.45 |
| Betai | 0.05 | 0.00 |
| Dividend yieldi | 3.63% | 3.76% |
| 5Y CAGR | +1.73% | +3.64% |
Over the past year, SHY and BIL have moved barely in the same direction (correlation of 0.01), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | SHY | BIL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +1.54% | +3.68% |
| CAGRi | +1.54% | +3.69% | |
| Volatilityi | 1.33% | 0.20% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -2.22 | -4.45 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -2.73 | -5.33 | |
| Max drawdowni | 0.89% | 0.01% | |
| Current drawdowni | 0.73% | 0.00% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 0.17% | 0.00% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 0.25% | 0.00% | |
| Max daily dropi | 0.30% | 0.01% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 0.48% | 0.00% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +8.92% | +19.53% |
| CAGRi | +1.73% | +3.64% | |
| Volatilityi | 2.01% | 0.26% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -1.37 | -3.57 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -1.89 | -4.58 | |
| Max drawdowni | 5.63% | 0.07% | |
| Current drawdowni | 0.73% | 0.00% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 1.49% | 0.00% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 2.24% | 0.01% | |
| Max daily dropi | 0.51% | 0.03% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 1.26% | 0.03% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +17.51% | +25.38% |
| CAGRi | +1.63% | +2.29% | |
| Volatilityi | 1.58% | 0.25% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -1.82 | -8.78 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -2.48 | -8.59 | |
| Max drawdowni | 5.71% | 0.21% | |
| Current drawdowni | 0.73% | 0.00% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 0.89% | 0.03% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 1.64% | 0.06% | |
| Max daily dropi | 0.51% | 0.04% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 1.26% | 0.09% |
| Category | SHY | BIL |
|---|---|---|
| Fund name | iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF | State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF |
| Type | ETF | ETF |
| Expense ratioi | 0.15% | 0.14% |
| Total assets (AUM)i | $25.91B | $46.75B |
| Dividend yieldi | 3.63% | 3.76% |
- Extremely low interest rate risk (1.9-year duration) — modest rate changes cause minimal price changes vs long-duration bonds
- US Treasury credit quality — zero credit risk, only duration risk which is minimal in the 1–3 year range
- Actively traded with tight bid-ask spreads — easy to deploy and redeploy capital as market conditions change
- Near-zero duration — virtually no interest rate risk; BIL price is essentially stable regardless of rate changes
- Money market yield equivalent — BIL provides Treasury bill yields matching the short end of the federal funds rate
- Liquidity is exceptional — T-bills are the most liquid securities in the world, traded in massive volumes daily
- 0.15% expense ratio vs BIL's 0.14% — minimal difference but BIL is slightly cheaper for the shortest end of Treasury market
- Duration risk, though minimal, does exist — a rapid Fed rate hike cycle (like 2022) can create small but real negative returns briefly
- Yields track the Fed funds rate lag — in a rapidly rising rate environment, SHY may temporarily underperform money market rates
- BIL yields decline rapidly when the Fed cuts rates — in low rate environments, BIL returns near zero (as they did 2008–2022)
- No capital appreciation potential — BIL is purely income, not a return-generating investment beyond the current T-bill yield
- 0.14% expense ratio reduces the net yield by 14 basis points — in near-zero rate environments, this eats a significant portion of total yield
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