IAGG vs IUSB

IAGGAiShares Core International Aggregate Bond ETF

IUSBAiShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF

In short

IAGG The other half of the bond market, in dollars. IAGG holds investment-grade debt issued outside the US, developed and emerging, and hedges the currency swings back to USD for seven basis points.

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

IAGG The fund seeks to track an index representing global investment-grade bonds outside the United States, with exposure across developed and emerging markets and currency hedging to the U.S. dollar.

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

• IAGG 0.07% a year for a global bond book. The median fund in its aggregate-bond peer group charges around 0.36%, and it is priced level with rival BNDX.
• Currency exposure is hedged to the dollar, so results track the bonds themselves rather than moves in the yen, euro or pound.ishares.com
• Roughly 7,900 bonds spanning developed and emerging markets outside the US, with a 10% issuer cap in the index keeping any one borrower in check.
• Running since 2015 inside the iShares Core lineup, a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively and pays quarterly.

• 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

• IAGG The hedge works both ways. It strips out currency losses and currency gains alike, so a sliding dollar adds nothing here.
• No US bonds at all. It is built as the ex-US complement to a domestic core holding such as BND or IUSB, not a standalone bond sleeve.
• Hedging covers currency, not duration. These are investment-grade bonds, and their prices still move as global interest rates move.

• 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 IAGG profile⁠

Full IUSB profile⁠