BKAG vs FFIU

BKAGABNY Mellon Core Bond ETF

FFIUDUVA Unconstrained Medium-Term Fixed Income ETF

In short

BKAG A core bond index fund that charges nothing. BKAG tracks the same Bloomberg US Aggregate benchmark the giants track, at a 0.00% expense ratio, and has been doing it since 2020.

FFIU A go-anywhere bond fund with a human at the wheel: no index to track, just an active manager picking across the fixed income market for current income. It has been running since 2017.

Stated mandate

BKAG The fund seeks to track the Bloomberg US Aggregate Total Return Index.

FFIU The Fund seeks current income with limited risk to principal by investing mainly in fixed income securities of any kind. It normally invests at least 80% of assets in those securities.

Why people hold it

• BKAG A 0.00% expense ratio. The median fund in the core bond group charges 0.36%, and even the cheap giants (BND, SPAB, SCHZ) charge 0.03%.
• Tracks the Bloomberg US Aggregate Total Return Index tightly, one of the closest index-following records in its peer group.
• Broad by design: roughly 4,000 bonds in the portfolio, with distributions paid monthly rather than quarterly.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund from BNY Mellon, wrapped in a standard 1940 Act ETF structure with no exotic mechanics.

• FFIU Unconstrained means unconstrained: no benchmark to hug, and the prospectus allows fixed income of any kind, plus up to 20% in futures, options, cash or other funds.sec.gov
• Built for income, not fireworks. At least 80% of assets sit in fixed income, the stated aim is current income with limited risk to principal, and cash goes out quarterly.sec.gov
• Trading since 2017, so there is a real multi-year record across very different rate environments rather than a backtest.

Worth knowing

• BKAG Rate risk is the trade-off. This is full-market bond exposure, and bond prices move opposite interest rates. Volatility is the weakest part of its profile.
• Moderately traded, not one of the volume monsters in the category. Spreads and limit orders matter more here than with the largest core bond names.
• At zero, the fee edge over 0.03% rivals is real but small in dollar terms, so tracking and trading costs do more of the work.

• FFIU Costs 0.54% a year, above the roughly 0.36% median for core bond ETFs and well above index giants like BND, SPAB and SCHZ at 0.03%.
• Small and thinly traded, which usually means wider bid-ask spreads and more gap between your fill price and the fund's underlying value.
• Outcomes hinge on the manager's judgment rather than a published index, so there is no benchmark to measure the portfolio against day to day.

Full BKAG profile⁠

Full FFIU profile⁠