AGG vs BTOT

AGGAiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

BTOTBiShares Total USD Fixed Income Market 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.

BTOT One ticket for the US dollar bond market, investment grade and high yield together, at 0.10% a year. iShares launched it in December 2025 as a wider take on core bond exposure than the usual index.

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.

BTOT The Fund seeks broad exposure to U.S.-dollar-denominated fixed-income securities spanning investment-grade and high-yield markets, while tracking its underlying index before fees and expenses.

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.

• BTOT 0.10% a year against a 0.36% median for its broad-bond peer group. In fixed income, fee drag is one of the few variables you actually control.
• Investment grade and high yield in one wrapper, tracking the Bloomberg U.S. Total Fixed Income Market Index, so you are not stapling a separate high-yield sleeve onto a core fund yourself.ishares.com
• Roughly 1,100 bonds, so no single issuer carries much weight, held in a conventional 1940 Act fund from iShares.

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.

• BTOT The high-yield portion carries credit risk an investment-grade-only core bond fund does not, so it moves with credit spreads more than a plain Agg tracker.
• A December 2025 launch: short live record, and it began life thinly traded, so spreads can run wider than at long-established bond funds.
• Cheaper broad-bond options exist: BND, SPAB and SCHZ at 0.03%, iShares' own IUSB at 0.06%, each built on different index rules.

Full AGG profile⁠

Full BTOT profile⁠