AGG vs SJCP

AGGAiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

SJCPDSanJac Alpha 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.

SJCP A boutique's hand-picked answer to the index Agg. SanJac's managers choose the bonds themselves, aiming for current income and total return with limited volatility and preservation of capital. Small, new, and priced like a specialist.

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.

SJCP The Fund seeks current income and total returns consistent with limited volatility and preservation of capital.

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.

• SJCP Actively managed, not index-shackled: the stated goal is current income and total return consistent with limited volatility and preservation of capital.
• Plain wrapper, plain plumbing: a US-focused 1940 Act ETF that pays income quarterly. No K-1 exotica, no derivatives-driven payout formula.
• Volatility has been the strong suit so far: price swings have run milder than much of the aggregate-bond peer group, though the record is short.

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.

• SJCP 0.65% a year is real money in bond land, where index anchors like BND and SPAB charge a sliver of that. You are paying for the manager's judgment.
• Small asset base and thin trading, so bid-ask spreads can be wider than the category's household names.
• Launched in 2024, and it currently sits in the lower reaches of a crowded aggregate-bond field on our review of cost, scale and mandate evidence.

Full AGG profile⁠

Full SJCP profile⁠