Key Highlights

  • The fund holds almost entirely cash and cash-like instruments, with cash making up 98.83% of the portfolio.
  • The management fee is 0.07%, and the listed annual Yield is 4.27%.
  • The top ten holdings make up 43.06% of the fund, with a single RBC Money Market position accounting for 25.60%.
  • The fund tracks the S&P/ASX Bank Bill index before fees and expenses.

iShares Core Cash ETF (ASX:BILL) is a passively managed exchange-traded fund that aims to track the S&P/ASX Bank Bill Index before fees and expenses. At a listed price of $100.43 and a fund size of about $1.24 billion, it sits in the Australian Cash category. Its portfolio is built around short-dated, highly liquid securities, which shapes both the income it produces and the way its unit price behaves compared with bond or Equity funds.

Ticker

ASX:BILL

Listed price

$100.43

Fund size

$1.24 billion

Management fee

0.07%

Listed annual yield

4.27%

Benchmark

S&P/ASX Bank Bill TR AUD

Holdings

81 companies

What the fund holds

Cash and cash-like instruments account for 98.83% of the portfolio, with bonds making up the remaining 1.17%. The largest single holding is an RBC money market position at 11am, equal to 25.60% of the fund. Beyond that, the holdings are mostly short-dated bank paper, including positions in ANZ Group Holdings, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, United Overseas Bank and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, each typically under 4%.

Because the top ten positions make up 43.06% of the fund, the remaining 56.94% is spread across the rest of the 81 holdings. That spread lowers the impact of any single issuer, although the portfolio remains heavily tied to Australian and regional bank credit.

Income and costs

The listed annual yield of 4.27% is set against a 0.07% management fee, which is low for a cash-focused fund. Income moves with short-term interest rates rather than with the prices of longer-dated bonds, so the yield can change as the rate outlook shifts.

Investors should also note that the figure is a listed yield and not a guaranteed return. Fees, the timing of distributions and any change in the portfolio all affect the income an investor actually receives.

Risks to weigh

Cash funds are usually steadier than bond or equity funds, but they are not risk-free. Income falls when short-term rates fall, and the unit price can move slightly from day to day. Credit risk remains, because the fund holds bank paper, even though the issuers are generally large institutions.

The fund is also exposed to the operational side of its structure, including how quickly its holdings can be sold if investors redeem in size. Those factors matter most during periods of market stress.

Final Word

The iShares Core Cash ETF is built for investors who want short-dated exposure to Australian bank paper at a low cost. Its main attraction is stability and liquidity, and its main limitation is that its income will follow the cash rate lower as well as higher.