AGG vs PIFI

AGGAiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

PIFICClearShares Piton Intermediate 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.

PIFI Active management in a corner of the bond market owned by index trackers. A manager picks the bonds here, chasing current income with capital preservation and a three- to ten-year average maturity, instead of cloning the Agg.

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.

PIFI The Fund seeks current income while preserving capital over the long term. It is actively managed and invests at least 80% of assets in debt securities or economically similar instruments, generally maintaining a three- to ten-year dollar-weighted average maturity.

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.

• PIFI Truly active, not index-shadowing: at least 80% in debt securities, a three- to ten-year average maturity, and a manager making the calls.
• The portfolio matches the mandate on paper: US debt, intermediate maturities, no style drift into places the prospectus never mentioned.
• Income is the stated job, and the fund pays on a quarterly schedule.
• Live since 2020, so there is a real multi-year record to inspect rather than a backtest.

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.

• PIFI 0.45% a year, above the intermediate-bond median of 0.36% and miles past the 0.03% charged by BND, SPAB and SCHZ. Active judgment is what you are paying for.
• Thinly traded. Spreads can widen, so limit orders matter more here than with the index behemoths.
• A boutique fund with a modest asset base, without the scale cushion of the Vanguard and Schwab giants in its cohort.

Full AGG profile⁠

Full PIFI profile⁠