AGG vs BNDP

AGGAiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

BNDPAVanguard Core-Plus Bond Index 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.

BNDP The Agg with the leftovers added back. BNDP indexes a broad sweep of US dollar taxable bonds spanning investment-grade and high-yield, in a passive Vanguard wrapper priced at 0.05%.

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.

BNDP The fund seeks to track the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Float Adjusted Index, which consists of U.S. dollar-denominated taxable bonds rated as either investment-grade or high-yield.

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.

• BNDP 0.05% a year, a fraction of what the typical fund in its bond category charges. In bonds, fee drag is the piece you actually control.
• The index reaches past the plain Agg: US dollar taxable bonds across both investment-grade and high-yield, so credit corners a core-only tracker skips come along.vanguard.com
• Rules-based, not manager discretion: it follows the Bloomberg U.S. Universal Float Adjusted Index, so the credit mix is disclosed by the index, not a quarterly judgment call.
• Cheaper than IUSB, the long-standing universal-index fund, at 0.05% versus 0.06%.

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.

• BNDP It listed in December 2025 and is still a small fund that trades lightly, so spreads can run wider than in the category's household names.
• The high-yield slice brings credit risk a pure investment-grade Agg tracker does not carry, and it tends to show up when credit markets wobble.
• Bare-bones Agg trackers like BND, SPAB and SCHZ charge 0.03%. The wider bond universe here costs a couple of basis points more.

Full AGG profile⁠

Full BNDP profile⁠