AGG vs TPFI

AGGAiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

TPFIDTimothy Plan 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.

TPFI Timothy Plan spent years screening stocks against biblical criteria. In 2026 it pointed that lens at bonds: an income-focused fixed income fund for investors who want their debt sleeve run by the same rulebook as their stocks.

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.

TPFI The Fund seeks high current income while limiting undue risk to principal.

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.

• TPFI The bond leg of a biblically screened lineup. Timothy Plan's equity ETFs date back to 2019; this one extends the same values-first approach to debt.timothyplan.com
• Plain mandate: at least 80% of assets in debt securities, aiming for high current income while limiting undue risk to principal.
• Fills the fixed income slot in a family that was all equity until 2026: large cap, small cap, international and high dividend funds.timothyplan.com

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.

• TPFI At 0.55% a year, it costs well above plain index aggregate bond funds such as BND, SPAB and SCHZ at 0.03%. Screening and hands-on management carry a price.
• A 2026 launch, so the track record is short and it trades in a fraction of the volume of the index bond giants, which can widen bid-ask spreads.
• Income lands on an annual or semiannual schedule rather than the monthly cadence many bond funds use.

Full AGG profile⁠

Full TPFI profile⁠