AGGM vs SPAB

AGGMAiShares 1-10 Year U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

SPABAState Street SPDR Portfolio Aggregate Bond ETF

In short

AGGM Government and credit, nothing else: GBF holds Treasuries and investment-grade corporate bonds across the maturity spectrum, tracking a Bloomberg index since 2007 for 0.20% a year.

SPAB A 2007-vintage core bond fund priced at 0.03%: roughly 8,500 US investment-grade bonds in one ticket, at the same rock-bottom fee the household names charge for the same index.

Stated mandate

AGGM The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. dollar-denominated government and investment-grade corporate bonds, providing diversified fixed-income exposure across sectors and maturities.

SPAB The fund seeks to track the price and yield performance of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index before fees and expenses, providing broad exposure to U.S.-dollar-denominated investment-grade bonds.

Why people hold it

• AGGM A 0.20% fee, below the typical core bond ETF in its category.
• Tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Government/Credit Bond Index tightly, one of the cleanest index implementations in a crowded core-bond field.
• Pays monthly, so income arrives on a steady cadence rather than quarterly.
• Live since 2007 under the iShares roof, with a full market cycle of history behind the mandate.

• SPAB 0.03% a year against a 0.36% median for its peer group, and the same ticket price as AGG, SCHZ and BBAG on the identical index.
• Roughly 8,500 dollar-denominated investment-grade bonds in one line item, tracking the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. Diversification you could not assemble bond by bond.ssga.com
• Trades actively and has tracked its index closely, putting it among the stronger implementations in the core-bond group.
• Running since 2007, now a multi-billion-dollar fund, and it pays monthly rather than quarterly.

Worth knowing

• AGGM It trades lightly next to the category's giants. Limit orders matter more here than with the household-name bond funds.
• Broad total-bond rivals undercut it on fee: BND, SPAB and SCHZ each run 0.03%, though their indexes also include securitized debt.
• Rate risk is the main lever. The index spans sectors and maturities, so prices move inversely to yields, and longer bonds move most.

• SPAB Bond prices move opposite yields. When rates rise the index falls and the fund follows it down; a 0.03% fee cannot cushion that.
• AGG, SCHZ and BBAG hold the same declared index at the same 0.03%. Picking among them comes down to spreads and platform, not the portfolio.
• Investment grade and US dollar only by mandate: high yield and foreign-currency debt sit outside the remit.ssga.com

Full AGGM profile⁠

Full SPAB profile⁠