Investors have pulled over $900 million from iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Fund (NYSEArca: SHY) the past month as the short-duration ETF’s meager yield gets swallowed up by its management fee.
The outflows coincide with a rally in stocks. The selling could mean some institutional investors are are moving into riskier assets and leaving safe havens. Or maybe they’re just fed up with rock-bottom yields.
SHY is “one of the least risky investments that can be made,” says Timothy Strauts at Morningstar in an analyst report on the ETF. “Given the short duration and low yields, we view this as a substitute for a cash account.”
The iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Fund has a 30-day SEC yield of 0.12%, according to manager BlackRock, which is more than the 0.15% expense ratio.
The $9 billion ETF has experienced $904 million of outflows the past month, according to XTF.com.
The Federal Reserve’s bond-buying programs and the flight to safety have kept Treasury yields extremely low, which punishes savers and investors who want steady income.