Fund Evaluator:
Six Circles Ultra Short Duration (CUSDX)
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Best Performing in Ultrashort Bond Over the Last Year
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Fund Details
Six Circles Ultra Short Duration Overview
Six Circles Ultra Short Duration (CUSDX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Ultrashort Bond fund. Six Circles launched the fund in 2018.
The investment seeks to generate current income consistent with capital preservation. The fund mainly invests in U.S. dollar and non-U.S. dollar denominated investment grade short-term fixed and floating rate debt securities. While it may invest in securities with various maturities, under normal market conditions, the fund will seek to maintain an average effective portfolio duration of one year or less.
About Six Circles Ultra Short Duration (CUSDX)
There are 11 members of the management team with an average tenure of 4.48 years: Akiva Dickstein (2020), Jerome Schneider (2018), Scott MacLellan (2020), Nathan Chiaverini (2026), Jeffrey Gaffney (2018), Siddharth Mehta (2025), Jesse Rosenblum (2026), Amanda Liu (2025), Jeffrey Eshleman (2024), Richard Madigan (2018), Michael Gray (2018). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.
The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US Agg Bond TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Bloomberg US Treasury Bill 1-3 M TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Six Circles Ultra Short Duration has 772 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 31.6% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.
Six Circles Ultra Short Duration is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. Six Circles Ultra Short Duration has 27.1% 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 110.1% (83.0% domestic bond, 27.1% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Six Circles Ultra Short Duration has 1.3% of the portfolio in cash.
Assets Under Management
The fund has $1 billion in total assets, which is above the $969 million 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.
CUSDX 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 Six Circles Ultra Short Duration expense ratio is low compared to funds in the Ultrashort Bond category. Six Circles Ultra Short Duration has an expense ratio of 0.19%, which is 58% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. 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. Six Circles Ultra Short Duration has a portfolio turnover rate of 59%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 76% for the Ultrashort Bond category.
Recently, in the month of August 2026, Six Circles Ultra Short Duration returned 0.3%, which earned it a grade of B, 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 funds in that category.
Six Circles Ultra Short Duration has a trailing yield of 4.04%, which is below the 4.16% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly 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.
Six Circles Ultra Short Duration Grades
Year to date, the fund has returned 2.3%, 0.1 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned 3.9% over the past year (grade of C), 5.1% over the past three years (grade of C) and 3.7% per year over the past five years (grade of C).
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CUSDX 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 |
|
| CUSDX Return (NAV) | 0.3% | 0.9% | 3.9% | 5.1% | 3.7% | na |
| CUSDX Grade | B | C | C | C | C | na |
| +/- Category | 0.0% | 0.0% | -0.0% | -0.0% | -0.0% | na |
| Ultrashort Bond Avg | 0.3% | 0.9% | 3.9% | 5.1% | 3.7% | 2.7% |
| CUSDX Tax Cost Ratio | na | na | 1.6% | 1.8% | 1.5% | na |
CUSDX Annual NAV Total ReturnsData as of 8/31/26
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| CUSDX Return (NAV) | 2.3% | 4.8% | 6.0% | 5.9% | -0.2% | 0.0% | 2.1% | 2.9% | na | na | na |
| CUSDX Grade | D | C | B | B | C | C | B | C | na | na | na |
| +/- Category | -0.1% | -0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | -0.1% | 0.5% | -0.1% | na | na | na |
| Ultrashort Bond Avg | 2.4% | 4.9% | 5.9% | 5.9% | -0.2% | 0.1% | 1.5% | 3.1% | 1.7% | 1.6% | 1.5% |
| Risk Measures | |
| Standard Deviation: | 0.5% |
| Total Risk Index: | 0.04 - Low |
| Category Risk Index: | 0.86 - Average |
| Category Risk Grade: | C (43% Rank) |
| Beta: | 0.05 |
| R-Squared: | 42% |
| Leveraged Fund: | No |
| Inverse Fund: | No |
| Portfolio Characteristics | |
| Equity Investment Style: | na |
| Bond Investment Style: | na |
| Yield: | 4.0% |
| Dividend Distribution: | Monthly |
| Cap Gains Distribution: | Annually |
| Total Assets: | $1129 Mil |
| Fund Total Assets: | $1,130 Mil |
| Share Class Type: | Other |
| Portfolio Turnover: | 59% |
Management Team
| Number of Managers: 11 | |||
| Longest Tenure: 8.2 years | |||
| Average Tenure: 4.5 years | |||
| Managers (Year): Schneider Jerome (2018), Gaffney Jeffrey (2018), Madigan Richard (2018), Gray Michael (2018), Dickstein Akiva (2020), MacLellan Scott (2020), Eshleman Jeffrey (2024), Mehta Siddharth (2025), Liu Amanda (2025), Rosenblum Jesse (2026), Chiaverini Nathan (2026) | |||
Portfolio Composition (as of 6/30/26)
| # of Holdings: | 772 |
| % in Top 10 Holdings: | 31.6% |
| Fund is Non-Diversified: | No |
| % in Foreign Issues: | 27.1% |
Portfolio Allocation |
|
| Domestic Stock: | 0.0% |
| Foreign Stock: | 0.0% |
| Preferred Stock: | 0.0% |
| Domestic Bond: | 83.0% |
| Foreign Bond: | 27.1% |
| Convertible Bond: | 0.0% |
| Other: | -11.4% |
| Cash: | 1.3% |
Purchase Information
| Fund Family: | Six Circles |
| Phone Number: | 212-464-2070 |
| Website: |
| Status: | Open |
| Inception Date: | July 9, 2018 |
| Min. Initial Purchase: | $ 0 |
| Min. Initial IRA Purchase: | $ 0 |
| True No-Load: | Yes |
| Front Load Maximum: | 0.00% |
| Deferred Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| Redemption Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| 12b-1 Fee: | na |
Expenses and Fees | |
| Expense Ratio (%): | 0.19% ( Rating : Low ) |
| Category Average Expense Ratio (%): | 0.45% |
| Share Class: | Six Circles Ultra Short Duration |
| Min. Subsequent Purchase: | $ 0 |
| Min. Subsequent IRA Purchase: | $ 0 |
