AGG vs FIXT

AGGAiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

FIXTCTCW Core Plus 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.

FIXT An active core-plus bond fund that reaches for return outside the Agg while keeping duration within about a year of it. TCW's desk picks the sectors; the interest-rate exposure stays close to the benchmark.

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.

FIXT FIXT is an actively managed core-plus bond ETF seeking consistent income and strong returns with modest risk. Its strategy uses benchmark-aware sector allocation while keeping duration within approximately one year of the benchmark.

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.

• FIXT Core-plus with a leash: it can range beyond the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate for yield, but duration stays within roughly a year of the index, so it isn't a big rate bet.
• At 0.40%, it undercuts several active funds measured against the same index, including DBND (0.45%), SIFI (0.50%) and FTBD (0.55%).
• Pays monthly and spreads the work across roughly 600 bonds, so income arrives on a steady cadence rather than in quarterly lumps.
• Inception dates to 2002, meaning the strategy has run through multiple rate cycles, not just the post-2020 ETF boom.

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.

• FIXT You pay 0.40% here against 0.03% at plain Agg trackers like BND, AGG and SPAB. The manager's sector calls carry that difference.
• Small and thinly traded, so spreads can be wider than the giants of the category. Limit orders are the usual habit with funds like this.
• In a peer group stacked with three-basis-point index funds, it lands in the lower half overall; the case rests on active credit and sector work.

Full AGG profile⁠

Full FIXT profile⁠