AGG vs EUSB

AGGAiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

EUSBAiShares ESG Advanced Universal USD 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.

EUSB A total-bond-market build with a conscience clause: thousands of taxable dollar bonds, screened for ESG ratings and stripped of fossil fuel issuers, at a fee well under the typical broad bond ETF.

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.

EUSB The Fund seeks to track the Bloomberg MSCI US Universal Choice ESG Screened Index, an index of U.S. dollar-denominated taxable bonds with favorable ESG ratings and extensive screens, including fossil-fuel exclusions.

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.

• EUSB Charges 0.12% a year, well below the median fee in its broad-bond group and cheap for a rules-screened portfolio.
• The screens are the product: favorable ESG ratings plus extensive exclusions, fossil fuels included, written into the index rather than left to a manager's mood.ishares.com
• Spreads exposure across several thousand US dollar taxable bonds and pays monthly, so the income cadence is steady.
• Delivers the mandate it advertises, one of the tighter ESG implementations among broad bond funds we grade.

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.

• EUSB Screening changes the mix. Cutting fossil fuel issuers means the portfolio's sector map and results can diverge from a plain total-bond index.
• Cheap, not cheapest: unscreened aggregate peers like BND, SPAB and SCHZ run 0.03%.
• Smaller and less actively traded than the core bond giants, which can show up as wider bid-ask spreads on larger orders.

Full AGG profile⁠

Full EUSB profile⁠