Money-market ETFs, measured

Cash-parking instruments, analysed like nobody else does: costs measured on tracking difference (not just declared in the KID), Italian white-list taxation semester by semester from our database, baskets archived daily and fair comparisons. One review per fund, then the head-to-head.

And now the full census: every money-market fund in the ETF Screener — total costs, KID risk, securities lending and tracking difference, fund by fund.

XEON · Synthetic (swap)

The Xeon money-market ETF: what it is, what it yields, and why it isn’t «zero risk»

Is a money-market fund really shielded from losses? With the data in hand we look at Xeon, the most popular one: costs, risks, and a max drawdown that lasted nearly ten years. Plus a calculator for the real return.

C3M · Physical (real bills)

C3M money-market ETF: real government bills for parking cash

C3M actually buys BOTs and their European cousins: physical replication, a 12.6% effective tax rate for Italian investors, and measured costs at half the KID figure. Nine years of data, plus a semester-by-semester tax comparison with Xeon.

At a glance

Fund	Replication	TER	Measured cost	Tax rate today	Tax profile
XEON	Synthetic (swap)	0,10%	~10bp/yr	15.46%	moves with collateral
C3M	Physical (real bills)	0,14%	~15bp/yr	12.64%	stable (98-99% white list)

Measured cost = fund-index gap on official NAV (tracking difference). Italian effective rate from our white-list database, current semester: what counts is the semester you sell in. Details and methodology in the reviews.

What the regulation says (and why Xeon still counts as “money market”)

In Europe, true money-market funds are governed by EU Regulation 2017/1131 (MMF): to use that name a fund must be authorised as such and invest in money-market instruments — very short paper, deposits, repos — under strict limits on average maturity, daily liquidity and credit quality.

The paradox is that many of the most-used “money-market ETFs” don’t fit that definition. Xeon tracks the overnight €STR rate through a swap: it buys no bills or deposits, and its own issuer files it under bonds. T-bill funds buy ultra-short government paper: cash-parking behaviour, bond wrapper. “Money market”, in market parlance, describes behaviour — returns close to the short-term rate, minimal swings — not the legal category.

We do the same, and say so openly: in the ETF Screener the “money market” label follows the declared benchmark (overnight rate or T-bills), because that is what cash-parkers need. And the formal check is now in place: we cross our census with the official ESMA register of authorised money-market funds.

Census ETFs authorised as money-market funds

These are the ETFs in our census that appear in the official ESMA register of money-market funds authorised under EU Regulation 2017/1131 — money-market funds by law, not just by behaviour:

Fund	Type (register)	Authorised since
Amundi EUR Cash Active UCITS ETF Acc · CMMF	Standard VNAV	4 Nov 2025
iShares € Cash UCITS ETF · YCSH	Short-term VNAV	18 Oct 2024
Vanguard EUR Cash UCITS ETF EUR Acc · VCSHA	Short-term VNAV	30 Oct 2025
Vanguard EUR Cash UCITS ETF EUR Dist · VCASH	Short-term VNAV	30 Oct 2025

Snapshot of the ESMA register as of 2 October 2026, refreshed monthly. The other “money market” funds in the Screener — overnight swaps and T-bills — do not appear in the register: they are not money-market funds under the regulation, and that is normal. We record a fact, not a judgement: choosing between the two families depends on what you need.

Looking for more money-market ETFs?

The ETF Screener lists every money-market fund in our census — overnight and T-bill — with total cost (TER + KID transaction), KID risk, securities lending and a 12-month chart, and every row links to the fund page with year-by-year tracking difference.

Open the Screener on money market →

In the works: the next reviews in the series (candidates include LEONIA, PIMCO Euro Short Maturity and the other Milan-listed money-market funds) and the final category comparison.

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