AGG vs FIXD

AGGAiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

FIXDCFirst Trust Smith Opportunistic Fixed Income 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.

FIXD Most of the aggregate-bond aisle is index tracking on autopilot. FIXD goes the other way: an active manager roaming roughly 900 bonds under a mandate to maximize long-term total return, with distributions paid monthly.

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.

FIXD The Fund seeks to maximize long-term total return. Under normal market conditions, it invests at least 80% of its net assets in fixed income 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.

• FIXD Genuinely active: at least 80% of net assets sit in fixed income, but the manager roams sectors by conviction rather than replicating an index.ftportfolios.com
• Roughly 900 bond positions under the hood, so no single issuer carries the portfolio.
• Distributions land monthly, the cadence many core bond holders build income around.
• Live since its 2017 launch and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that has stayed inside its stated fixed income mandate.

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.

• FIXD The 0.65% fee is the trade-off. Index core bond funds like BND and SPAB charge 0.03%, so the manager's calls have to cover that gap.
• No index anchors it. Outcomes follow a manager's positioning, so it can diverge from the broad bond market in either direction.
• Trading is moderate rather than heavy next to the category's index giants, so spreads can matter more on larger orders.

Full AGG profile⁠

Full FIXD profile⁠