ETF Evaluator:
State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF (ULST)
Follow This ETF
(as of Sep 04)
Best Performing in Ultrashort Bond Over the Last Year
| 7.1% | iShares Interest Rate Hdg L/T Corp BdETF (IGBH) |
| 6.3% | iShares Interest Rate Hedged Corp Bd ETF (LQDH) |
| 5.2% | Simplify Treasury Option Income ETF (BUCK) |
| 5.2% | NEOS Enhanced Inc 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (CSHI) |
| 4.9% | SLW Short Duration Income ETF (SLWS) |
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ETF Details
State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF Overview
State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF (ULST) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Ultrashort Bond exchange-traded fund (ETF). State Street Investment Management launched the ETF in 2013.
The investment seeks to maximize current income consistent with preservation of capital and daily liquidity.
The Adviser invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the fund's net assets (plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes) in a portfolio of U.S. dollar-denominated investment-grade fixed income securities. The fund may also invest in exchange traded products ("ETPs"). It is non-diversified.
About State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF (ULST)
There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 7.40 years: James Palmieri (2019) and John Mele (2019). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.
The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US Agg Bond TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Bloomberg US Trsy Bellwethers 3M TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF has 297 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 49.7% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.
State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond ETF group. State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF has 13.7% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0% There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 69.4% (55.7% domestic bond, 13.7% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF has 30.6% of the portfolio in cash.
Assets Under Management
The fund has $515 million in total assets, which is below 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.
ULST 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 State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF expense ratio is below average compared to funds in the Ultrashort Bond category. State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF has an expense ratio of 0.20%, which is 9% 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. State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 60%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 58% for the Ultrashort Bond category.
Recently, in the month of August 2026, State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF returned 0.3%, which earned it a grade of C, 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.
State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF has a trailing yield of 4.11%, which is above the 4.03% category average.
The fund normally distributes its income monthly.
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.
State Street® Ultra Short Term Bond ETF Grades
Year to date, the ETF has returned 2.1%, 0.5 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 3.5% over the past year (grade of F), 4.8% over the past three years (grade of D) and 3.7% per year over the past five years (grade of D) and 2.7% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).
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ULST Trailing NAV Total Returns Data as of 8/31/26
| Last Month |
Last Quarter |
Ann'l. 1Yr |
Ann'l. 3Yr |
Ann'l. 5Yr |
Ann'l. 10Yr |
|
| ULST Return (NAV) | 0.3% | 0.8% | 3.5% | 4.8% | 3.7% | 2.7% |
| ULST Return (Price) | 0.3% | 0.7% | 3.4% | 4.8% | 3.7% | 2.7% |
| NAV +/- Price Return | 0.038% | 0.092% | 0.065% | 0.025% | 0.010% | 0.012% |
| Ultrashort Bond Avg | 0.3% | 0.9% | 4.1% | 5.2% | 3.9% | 3.0% |
| ULST Grade (NAV) | C | F | F | D | D | D |
| +/- Category (NAV) | -0.0% | -0.1% | -0.6% | -0.4% | -0.3% | -0.3% |
| ULST Tax-Cost Ratio | na | na | 1.7% | 1.9% | 1.5% | 1.1% |
ULST Annual NAV Total ReturnsData as of 8/31/26
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| ULST Return (NAV) | 2.1% | 4.9% | 5.2% | 5.7% | 0.8% | 0.2% | 1.5% | 3.2% | 1.9% | 1.4% | 1.5% |
| ULST Return (Price) | 2.0% | 4.8% | 5.2% | 5.6% | 0.9% | 0.3% | 1.4% | 3.2% | 2.0% | 1.2% | 1.7% |
| NAV +/- Price Ret | -0.008% | -0.014% | 0.012% | -0.013% | 0.036% | 0.109% | -0.066% | 1.2% | 7.6% | -14.4% | 11.3% |
| Ultrashort Bond Avg | 2.5% | 4.8% | 5.8% | 6.0% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 1.4% | 3.6% | 1.4% | 2.3% | 1.9% |
| ULST Grade (NAV) | F | C | F | C | C | B | C | C | A | D | C |
| +/- Category | -0.5% | 0.0% | -0.6% | -0.4% | 0.4% | -0.1% | 0.1% | -0.4% | 0.5% | -0.9% | -0.4% |
| Risk Measures | |
| Beta: | 0.10 |
| R-Squared: | 81% |
| Standard Deviation: | 0.7% |
| Category Risk Index: | 1.14 |
| Category Risk Rating: | High |
| Total Risk Index: | 0.06 |
| Total Risk Rating: | Low |
| Portfolio Characteristics | |
| Yield: | 4.1% |
| Total Assets: | $ 515 Mil |
| Share Class Assets: | $ 515 Mil |
| Turnover: | 60.0% |
| Expense Ratio: | 0.20% |
| Index Fund: | No |
| Index Tracked: | Bloomberg US Agg Bond TR USD |
| Index Weighting: | 100% |
| Leveraged: | No |
| Socially Responsible Fund: | No |
| Capital Gains Distribution Frequency: | |
| Income Distribution Frequency: | Monthly |
Management Team
| Number of Managers: 2 | |||
| Longest Tenure: 7.6 years | |||
| Average Tenure: 7.4 years | |||
| Managers (Year): Palmieri James (2019), Mele John (2019) | |||
Portfolio Composition (as of 8/31/26)
| # of Holdings: | 297 |
| % in Top 10 Holdings: | 49.7% |
| Fund is Non-Diversified: | Yes |
| % in Foreign Issues: | 13.7% |
Portfolio Allocation |
|
| Domestic Stock: | 0.0% |
| Foreign Stock: | 0.0% |
| Preferred Stock: | 0.0% |
| Domestic Bond: | 55.7% |
| Foreign Bond: | 13.7% |
| Convertible Bond: | 0.0% |
| Other: | 0.0% |
| Cash: | 30.6% |
Purchase Information
| Legal Structure: | Open Ended Investment Company |
| Fund Family: | State Street Investment Management |
| Phone Number: | 866-787-2257 |
| Website: | www.spdrs.com |
| Inception Date: | October 9, 2013 |
Expenses and Fees
| Expense Ratio (%): | 0.20% (Rating: Below Avg) |
| Category Average Expense Ratio (%): | 0.22% |
