NEAR vs SHV: Which ETF Is Better in 2026?
A metric-by-metric comparison of iShares Short Duration Bond Active ETF (NEAR) and iShares 0–1 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHV) — both Ultra-Short / Cash funds — using ETFValuer's daily-updated rankings.
Educational content — not financial advice. Data as of July 25, 2026. ~5 minute read.
The Verdict
NEAR and SHV compete directly — both are Ultra-Short / Cash funds chasing the same job in a portfolio. That makes this a genuine either/or: the index each tracks, what it costs, and how it has handled drawdowns are what separate them, not the broad exposure they give you.
On ETFValuer's overall model — which blends return, risk-adjusted performance, cost, drawdown, size and volatility — SHV scores higher: 55.9 (Grade C) versus 52.8 for NEAR. That doesn't make NEAR a bad fund; it means SHV currently edges it out on this specific mix of factors. Read the metric-by-metric breakdown below before deciding which matters more for your own portfolio.
Head-to-Head: Every Metric
| NEAR | SHV | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Ultra-Short / Cash | Ultra-Short / Cash |
| Expense ratio | 0.25% | 0.15% |
| Fund size (AUM) | $4.8B | $20.9B |
| Dividend yield | 4.43% | 3.82% |
| 1-year return | +3.35% | +3.82% |
| 3-year return | +16.85% | +14.25% |
| Volatility | 1.39% | 0.22% |
| Max drawdown | -1.16% | -0.03% |
| Sharpe ratio | -1.18 | -5.46 |
| ETFValuer score | 52.8 | 55.9 |
| Grade | C | C |
| Overall rank | #361 | #311 |
Bold marks the better value in each row. "Better" is directional only (e.g. lower cost, higher return) — it isn't a recommendation by itself. See the full methodology.
Cost
SHV is the cheaper fund, charging 0.15% a year versus 0.25% for NEAR — a gap of 0.10 percentage points (about $10.00/year on a $10,000 position) that compounds meaningfully over a multi-decade holding period. See the ETF Fee Calculator for the exact dollar impact at your investment size and horizon.
What NEAR's Fees Cost You
NEAR charges an expense ratio of 0.25% a year, deducted automatically from the fund's value. Small percentages compound into real money — adjust the figures below to see the impact on your own numbers.
Assumes a constant gross return and no additional contributions — a simplification, but it isolates exactly what the expense ratio costs. Try the full fee calculator to model contributions and compare any two funds.
Performance & Risk
Over the trailing 3 years, NEAR returned +16.85% versus +14.25% for SHV — a gap of about 2.6 percentage points. On risk, SHV has held up better historically, with a shallower max drawdown (-0.03% vs. -1.16%). NEAR currently has the better risk-adjusted return (Sharpe ratio of -1.18 vs. -5.46), meaning it delivered more return per unit of volatility taken on.
How Closely Do They Track Each Other?
Over the last 3.0 years of daily returns (752 shared trading days), NEAR and SHV show a low correlation of 0.283 — largely independent of each other. These funds move largely on their own schedules. Combining them is a real diversification decision rather than a redundant one, which is the case where owning both can genuinely reduce portfolio volatility.
| Measure | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Daily return correlation | 0.283 | Low — largely independent of each other |
| R-squared | 8.0% | 8.0% of NEAR's daily moves are explained by SHV's |
| Tracking error (annualised) | 1.63% | Typical yearly spread between the two funds' returns |
| Annualised return over 3.0y | NEAR +5.44% · SHV +4.97% | NEAR ahead by 0.47 points a year |
Correlation alone understates how far these can drift. Across every rolling 12-month window in the period, NEAR finished as much as +2.7 points ahead of SHV at the best extreme and -0.9 points at the worst — a 3.6-point spread between the best and worst year of relative performance. Two funds can correlate tightly day to day and still deliver very different outcomes over any single year you happen to hold them.
Calculated from daily total returns over the trailing 3-year window, recomputed every day this site refreshes. Correlation of 1.00 means the two funds moved in lockstep; 0.00 means their daily moves were unrelated.
Holdings Overlap
NEAR and SHV hold 1 of the same companies among their top 10 positions. Those shared names make up 2.7% of NEAR and 3.9% of SHV. That's modest duplication — the funds are mostly distinct at the top, so holding both can still add diversification.
| Shared Holding | NEAR Weight | SHV Weight |
|---|---|---|
| BlackRock Funds III | 2.74% | 3.88% |
Compares the top 10 reported holdings from each fund's most recent SEC N-PORT-P filing, so it understates total overlap — funds tracking similar indexes overlap far more deeply than the top 10 alone can show. Search any company across all tracked funds with the Stock Overlap tool.
Which One Should You Pick?
Lean NEAR if…
- Current income matters to you — it yields 4.43% against 3.82%
- You care about return per unit of risk — its Sharpe ratio of -1.18 beats -5.46
- You weight recent results heavily — it returned 16.9% over 3 years against 14.2%
Lean SHV if…
- You want the lower running cost — 0.15% vs 0.25%, about $10 a year less on a $10,000 position
- It has been the calmer ride (0.2% volatility vs 1.4%) with a shallower worst-case fall (-0.0% vs -1.2%)
- You want the deeper, more liquid market ($21B in assets vs $5B) and the tighter spread (0.009% vs 0.754%)
Whichever you pick, holding both at full weight is usually the wrong answer — see the overlap and correlation sections above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is NEAR or SHV better?
On ETFValuer's overall model — which blends return, risk-adjusted performance, cost, drawdown, size and volatility — SHV scores higher: 55.9 (Grade C) versus 52.8 for NEAR. That doesn't make NEAR a bad fund; it means SHV currently edges it out on this specific mix of factors. Read the metric-by-metric breakdown below before deciding which matters more for your own portfolio.
Which has the lower expense ratio, NEAR or SHV?
SHV currently has the lower expense ratio (0.15% vs. 0.25%).
Can I hold both NEAR and SHV?
Yes, and it may be worth doing. NEAR and SHV correlate at only 0.28 over the past 3.0 years, so they behave differently enough that holding both is a genuine diversification decision rather than a redundant one. Size each to the role you want it to play.
Go deeper on either fund
Full daily-updated metrics, holdings context, and category peers.