BKAG vs TPLS

BKAGABNY Mellon Core Bond ETF

TPLSCThornburg Core Plus Bond 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.

TPLS Thornburg's 2025 debut in the crowded aggregate-bond aisle, and it refuses to stay in the aisle: an active core-plus mandate that can wander into emerging market bonds, bank loans and structured debt, paying monthly.

Stated mandate

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

TPLS The fund invests in a diversified portfolio of fixed-income instruments, including emerging market bonds, bank loans, and loan participants.

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.

• TPLS Core plus, and the plus is real: the mandate reaches past Treasuries and corporates into emerging market bonds, bank loans and loan participations.
• Pays income at least monthly, so coupons arrive on a steady rhythm rather than a quarterly lump.
• What it holds lines up closely with the wide-ranging mandate it advertises. No index-hugger wearing an active label.
• Plain 1940 Act fund structure: ordinary ETF plumbing, 1099 at tax time, no partnership paperwork.

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.

• TPLS The 0.45% fee is active-manager pricing in a category where index anchors like BND and SPAB charge 0.03%. The roaming mandate has to earn that gap.
• Small and thinly traded, which tends to mean wider bid-ask spreads than the giants of the aggregate-bond group.
• Launched in 2025, so the record is short. Thornburg also discloses that distributions can include return of capital, meaning part of a payout may be your own money back.

Full BKAG profile⁠

Full TPLS profile⁠