IUSB vs NXUS

IUSBAiShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF

NXUSBNuveen International 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.

NXUS Most "aggregate bond" ETFs stop at the US border. NXUS starts there: roughly 3,200 investment-grade bonds from developed and emerging markets, none of them in dollars, with the currency risk hedged back to USD monthly, for 0.08% a year.

Stated mandate

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

NXUS The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the Bloomberg Global Aggregate ex-USD (Hedged) Index. Its strategy may also use debt securities outside the Index, including asset-backed securities.

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.

• NXUS 0.08% a year, below the category median, and that is the real fare: gross and net fees are the same number, with no waiver propping it up.
• Roughly 3,200 bonds (sovereign, corporate, securitized) across about two dozen local-currency markets, developed and emerging. One of the broader portfolios in its peer group.sec.govsec.gov 2
• The index hedges its non-dollar exposure back to the US dollar monthly, so what you hold is foreign interest-rate exposure rather than a view on the dollar.sec.gov
• AGG, BND, SPAB and SCHZ each charge 0.03% and each stops at the US border. This is the ex-US half they leave out, and it pays monthly.

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.

• NXUS The hedge resets monthly, so dollar moves between reset dates flow through. Hedging dampens currency swings rather than removing them.sec.gov
• Investment grade only: the index excludes subordinated, convertible, floating-rate and inflation-linked bonds. No high-yield kicker.sec.gov
• It launched in September 2025, so the record is short, and it trades more lightly than the US core giants, which can show up in bid-ask spreads.

Full IUSB profile⁠

Full NXUS profile⁠