ETF Evaluator: Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF (BOXX) Follow This ETF

Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF Overview

Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF (BOXX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Ultrashort Bond exchange-traded fund (ETF). Alpha Architect launched the ETF in 2022.

The investment seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, equals or exceeds the price and yield performance of an investment that tracks the 1-3 month sector of the United States Treasury Bill market. Under normal market conditions, the fund generally invests substantially all, but at least 80%, of its total assets in the Box Spreads such that the weighted average maturity of the Box Spreads based upon expiration dates is less than 90 days. The principal investment strategy of the fund will be to utilize an exchange-listed options strategy called a box spread (“Box Spread”).

About Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF (BOXX)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 3.59 years: Lawrence Lempert (2022), Joseph DeSipio (2022) and Ryan Bailey (2022). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: Solactive us agg bond TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Solactive 1-3 month US T-Bill TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF has 12 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 200.1% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond ETF group. Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF has 1.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 197.7% There is 1.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF has -98.7% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $13 billion in total assets, which is above the $5 billion average for the Ultrashort Bond category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

BOXX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF expense ratio is low compared to funds in the Ultrashort Bond category. Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF has an expense ratio of 0.19%, which is 14% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 0%, which indicates that it holds its assets around /years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 57% for the Ultrashort Bond category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF returned 0.5%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Ultrashort Bond category had an average return of 0.3%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF has a trailing yield of 0.00%, which is below the 4.07% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 2.3%, 0.1 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 4.1% over the past year (grade of C) and 4.7% over the past three years (grade of D).

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