AGG vs BLST

AGGAiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

BLSTBBluemonte Short Term 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.

BLST One ticket, an actively managed basket of short-duration bond ETFs: Treasuries, corporates, TIPS and securitized debt, with a four-year average maturity ceiling written into the prospectus. Rate risk kept on a short leash.

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.

BLST The Fund seeks total return and income. It is actively managed and obtains at least 80% bond exposure, primarily through underlying funds holding short-duration debt securities.

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.

• BLST The maturity leash is in the prospectus: underlying funds hold debt averaging no more than four years, five years max. Far less rate whiplash than a total bond index.sec.gov
• All-in cost is 0.22% net of a waiver through August 31, 2027 (0.27% gross), and that figure already includes the 0.02% the underlying ETFs charge. Below the category median.sec.gov
• Investment grade is the floor: underlying funds buy debt rated BBB/Baa or better at purchase. Income is paid out monthly.sec.gov
• What it owns matches what it says it owns, with the mix spread across government, corporate and securitized short paper.sec.gov

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.

• BLST The index giants cost a fraction: AGG and BND charge 0.03%. Here you pay an active manager for duration and sector calls on top of the ETFs they buy.sec.gov
• It launched in 2025, so there is only a short record to judge, and it is not one of the category's heavily traded names.
• Distributions can include return of capital, which hands back your own money rather than income the portfolio earned.

Full AGG profile⁠

Full BLST profile⁠