AGG vs SCEC

AGGAiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

SCECBSterling Capital Enhanced Core 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.

SCEC A core bond fund that declines to take core bond rate risk. Sterling's active team stays anchored in investment-grade credit but holds average duration to 18 months or less, so yield swings hit the portfolio far more softly.

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.

SCEC The Fund seeks enhanced core-bond exposure by actively allocating primarily to fixed-income securities, with investment-grade bonds as the main focus and limited below-investment-grade exposure. It maintains an average duration of 18 months or less.

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.

• SCEC The mandate caps average duration at 18 months or less, keeping price moves from shifting rates short and shallow versus longer core bond portfolios.
• Actively managed with investment-grade bonds doing the heavy lifting and only limited below-investment-grade exposure, so the yield reach stays a sleeve, not the whole bet.
• Pays monthly, and the portfolio it actually holds lines up closely with the strategy the prospectus describes.
• Sits in the upper half of a crowded 187-fund aggregate-bond group despite being one of its newest entrants.

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.

• SCEC At 0.39% it runs above the 0.36% category median, and index-tracking rivals like BND, SPAB and SCHZ charge 0.03%. Active management is the line item you are paying for.
• Short duration cuts both ways: muted damage when yields rise, muted lift when they fall. This is not a stand-in for full aggregate-index duration.
• Launched in 2025, so the live record is short and the fund is still building scale next to the index giants in its group.

Full AGG profile⁠

Full SCEC profile⁠