AGG vs AGGH

AGGAiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

AGGHCSimplify Aggregate Bond ETF

In short

AGG Launched 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.

AGGH Core bonds with a twist: an investment-grade bond core built mostly from other ETFs, then options layered on top to hedge risk or generate income. The active take on the Agg, for people who find the index version too plain.

Stated mandate

AGG The fund seeks to track the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, providing broad exposure to the total U.S. investment-grade bond market.

AGGH The Fund seeks to maximize total return. It invests primarily in investment-grade bonds, chiefly through exchange-traded funds, and uses derivative overlays to hedge risk or generate income.

Why people hold it

• AGG 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.

• AGGH The overlay is the whole idea: investment-grade bonds held chiefly through ETFs, with derivatives used to hedge risk or generate income rather than just tracking an index.
• Pays monthly, so income arrives on a household-budget rhythm.
• Stays in US investment-grade credit. No emerging-market debt or currency detours hiding under the hood.
• Ordinary 1940 Act ETF wrapper: a 1099 at tax time, not a K-1.

Worth knowing

• AGG 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.

• AGGH At 0.55% a year it sits at the pricey end of an aisle where the index giants (BND, SPAB, SCHZ) charge 0.03%. The overlay has to carry that gap.
• Owning bonds through other funds adds a layer between you and the actual bonds, plus the underlying funds' own costs.
• Launched in 2022, so the track record is short, and an active overlay can behave unlike the plain Agg in stressed markets.

Full AGG profile⁠

Full AGGH profile⁠