AGG vs BLTD

AGGAiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

BLTDBBluemonte Long 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.

BLTD The aggregate-bond aisle is wall-to-wall index trackers. BLTD goes the other way: actively managed, pointed at the long end of the curve, paying monthly, at 0.22% net of a waiver through August 31, 2027.

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.

BLTD The Fund seeks total return and income and is actively managed.

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.

• BLTD Goes long on purpose: investment grade bonds with maturities past 10 years, the far end of the curve that total-market funds only partly own.marketchameleon.com
• Active mandate, no index to hug. Managers set the mix chasing total return and income instead of a benchmark's weights.marketchameleon.com
• 0.22% net of a waiver through August 31, 2027 (0.27% gross) sits below the category median. Index giants are cheaper: AGG, BND, SPAB and SCHZ all charge 0.03%.
• Pays monthly rather than quarterly. No declared target yield, so distributions track what the portfolio actually earns.

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.

• BLTD Long maturities swing harder than the aggregate index when yields move, in both directions. That is the trade for the extra duration.marketchameleon.com
• It reaches the bond market largely through other ETFs, so those funds' own expenses sit underneath the management fee.marketchameleon.comsec.gov
• Launched in 2025 and still small, it trades lightly next to the category's index heavyweights, which can mean wider spreads.

Full AGG profile⁠

Full BLTD profile⁠