Category Review
Municipal bond funds are down for the year after a third-quarter selloff erased the first-half gain
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
$94.71+0.05 (+0.05%)
- 0.03%
- $137.1B
- −1.9%
- 4.19%
- 9.4M sh
- $94.57
- low $93.84high $101.46
The ETF.net AGG Grade
A
Score 87 out of 100
- 1 of 117
Score 87 of 100 falls in the A band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.A95 out of 100Rank 3 of 117Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A100 out of 100Rank 1 of 101Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.C50 out of 100Rank 39 of 116Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A94 out of 100Rank 1 of 117Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.A76 out of 100Rank 20 of 116Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A95 out of 100Rank 4 of 117
Our read on AGG
ALaunched in 2003, one of the first funds to pack the entire U.S. investment-grade bond market into a single ticker: Treasuries, corporates and mortgage bonds, three basis points a year, cash paid monthly.
The fund seeks to track the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, providing broad exposure to the total U.S. investment-grade bond market.
Why people hold it
- 0.03% a year against a peer-group median near 0.36%. On a bond fund, the fee comes straight out of the coupon, so the gap matters more than it looks.
- A $100 billion-plus fund and very actively traded, the kind of depth that keeps bid-ask costs down for retail-sized orders.
- Tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate closely, with one of the tightest index-following records in its peer group. Income is distributed monthly.
- Running since 2003, giving it one of the longest track records among U.S. bond index ETFs.
Worth knowing
- Investment grade and U.S. dollar only. High-yield debt and foreign bonds sit outside the mandate, so this is designed as core ballast rather than a yield hunt.
- Rate risk comes as it comes. The index gets tracked whether yields rise or fall, with no manager stepping in to shorten duration.
- The same index is sold by SPAB, SCHZ and BBAG at the same 0.03%. The portfolio is the commodity here; scale and trading depth are the tiebreakers.
AGG Holdings
- Bonds
- 13,413
- 7%
- BlackRock Cash Class Inst Sl Agency
Sectors
- Treasury47.2%
- MBS Pass-Through22.9%
- Industrial14.3%
- Financial Institutions8.1%
- Utility2.5%
- CMBS1.4%
- Sovereign1.1%
- Supranational0.9%
- Local Authority0.6%
- Agency0.5%
- ABS0.4%
Geography
- United States93.07%
- Canada1.33%
- United Kingdom1.12%
- Japan0.72%
- Mexico0.47%
- Luxembourg0.39%
- Philippines0.39%
- Netherlands0.22%
- 2.31%
AGG Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
AGG$9,812
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | AGG |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −2.3% |
| 1 month | −1.0% |
| 3 months | −2.5% |
| 1 year | −1.9% |
| 3 years | +4.4% |
| 5 years | −0.5% |
| 10 years | +1.2% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | AGG |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −2.3% | |
| 2025 | +7.2% | |
| 2024 | +1.3% | |
| 2023 | +5.7% | |
| 2022 | −13.0% | |
| 2021 | −1.8% | |
| 2020 | +7.5% |
AGG in the news
AGG Dividends
- 4.19%
- $3.97
- $0.33 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
AGG Risk
- 5.6%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- −0.06
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −17.3%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.99
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
AGG Cost
0.03%
AGG0.03%
- The middle half of US Aggregate Bond funds
- Median 0.34%
No US Aggregate Bond fund charges less.
Other funds in US Aggregate Bond
- ASPABState Street SPDR Portfolio Aggregate Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.03%1 year return −2.0%
- ASCHZSchwab U.S. Aggregate Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.03%1 year return −1.9%
- ABNDVanguard Total Bond Market ETFExpense ratio 0.03%1 year return −1.9%
- AIUSBiShares Core Universal USD Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.06%1 year return −1.5%
- ABKAGBNY Mellon Core Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.00%1 year return −1.9%