AVIG vs IUSB

AVIGAAvantis Core Fixed Income ETF

IUSBAiShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF

In short

AVIG A core US bond fund with a different brief: its stated goal is maximizing total return, not just mirroring the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate. It costs 0.15% a year and spreads the risk across roughly 900 bonds.

IUSB Most core bond funds stop at investment grade. IUSB keeps going, folding high-yield USD debt into the same wrapper across roughly 18,000 bonds, for 0.06% a year.

Stated mandate

AVIG Seeks to maximize total return.

IUSB The Fund seeks to track an index of U.S.-dollar-denominated bonds spanning investment-grade and high-yield sectors.

Why people hold it

• AVIG Charges 0.15% a year, well under half the median fee in its core bond cohort. Cost stops being the argument.
• Roughly 900 bonds, benchmarked to the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate. The portfolio it actually runs lines up closely with the mandate in its own documents.avantisinvestors.com
• Among Agg-benchmarked funds, one of the stronger implementations in a crowded peer group, on both cost and portfolio construction.
• Launched in 2020 by Avantis as a broad US investment-grade bond holding, not a narrow slice of the market.avantisinvestors.com

• IUSB 0.06% a year, a fraction of what the typical broad bond fund in its category charges, and iShares has run it since 2014.
• Roughly 18,000 bonds spanning investment-grade and high-yield sectors, so one ticker covers ground a plain Agg tracker leaves on the table.ishares.com
• Tracks its index closely, trades heavily, and sits on a multi-billion-dollar asset base. Income is paid monthly.
• Among the strongest implementations in a crowded field of nearly 200 core bond funds.

Worth knowing

• AVIG Straight Agg index trackers (BND, AGG, SPAB) charge 0.03%. The extra basis points here buy a total-return mandate rather than a pure index copy.
• It's a core bond portfolio, so the price moves with interest rates. Rate sensitivity is the main risk you're carrying.
• Smaller and less heavily traded than the mega Agg trackers, so bid-ask spreads can run a touch wider.

• IUSB That high-yield sleeve is the trade-off: more credit risk than an investment-grade-only fund, and more movement when spreads widen.
• BND, SPAB and SCHZ charge 0.03%, half IUSB's fee, but they stay inside investment grade.
• Payouts land monthly, but the amount floats with the coupons underneath. Nothing about the income stream is fixed.

Full AVIG profile⁠

Full IUSB profile⁠