IUSB vs MAGG

IUSBAiShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF

MAGGCMadison Aggregate Bond ETF

In short

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.

MAGG Madison's compact take on the Agg: roughly 200 bonds instead of the benchmark's thousands, paying monthly. A hand-built core bond portfolio at the category's median fee, in a corner of the market where the index giants charge pennies.

Stated mandate

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

MAGG The fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus investment-purpose borrowings, in bonds.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• MAGG Holds about 200 bonds against a Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate benchmark that spans thousands: a curated portfolio, not a full index replica.
• The 0.36% fee sits right at the category median and matches Fidelity's FBND, so the managed approach doesn't carry a boutique premium.
• Pays monthly, and the prospectus commits at least 80% of net assets to bonds, keeping it a core fixed income sleeve rather than a wanderer.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• MAGG Index funds on the same Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate benchmark (BND, AGG, SPAB) charge 0.03%, roughly a twelfth of this fee.
• Thinly traded with a modest asset base, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the category anchors', which shows up most on bigger orders.
• Launched in 2023, it has a short live record next to the decades-old funds tracking the same benchmark.

Full IUSB profile⁠

Full MAGG profile⁠