SPAB vs UITB

SPABAState Street SPDR Portfolio Aggregate Bond ETF

UITBBVictoryShares Core Intermediate Bond ETF

In short

SPAB A 2007-vintage core bond fund priced at 0.03%: roughly 8,500 US investment-grade bonds in one ticket, at the same rock-bottom fee the household names charge for the same index.

UITB Most core bond ETFs clone the Agg index for three basis points. This one is run by people: an active take on the intermediate investment-grade market, launched in 2017 under the USAA banner and flying Victory Capital's flag since 2019.

Stated mandate

SPAB The fund seeks to track the price and yield performance of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index before fees and expenses, providing broad exposure to U.S.-dollar-denominated investment-grade bonds.

UITB The Fund seeks high current income while limiting undue risk to principal. It invests mainly in debt securities and related instruments, with duration generally near that of the Bloomberg 1-3 Year Credit Index.

Why people hold it

• SPAB 0.03% a year against a 0.36% median for its peer group, and the same ticket price as AGG, SCHZ and BBAG on the identical index.
• Roughly 8,500 dollar-denominated investment-grade bonds in one line item, tracking the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. Diversification you could not assemble bond by bond.ssga.com
• Trades actively and has tracked its index closely, putting it among the stronger implementations in the core-bond group.
• Running since 2007, now a multi-billion-dollar fund, and it pays monthly rather than quarterly.

• UITB Human-run, not index-bound: managers choose among Treasuries, corporates and mortgage bonds rather than owning whatever the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate benchmark weights dictate.vcm.com
• Roughly 1,100 bonds with an average maturity in the 3-to-10 year range. Core plumbing, not a bet on either end of the yield curve.vcm.com
• Cash goes out monthly, the cadence income-focused holders usually want from a bond sleeve.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund with a live record back to 2017, and the portfolio it actually holds lines up with the mandate its prospectus sets out.vcm.com

Worth knowing

• SPAB Bond prices move opposite yields. When rates rise the index falls and the fund follows it down; a 0.03% fee cannot cushion that.
• AGG, SCHZ and BBAG hold the same declared index at the same 0.03%. Picking among them comes down to spreads and platform, not the portfolio.
• Investment grade and US dollar only by mandate: high yield and foreign-currency debt sit outside the remit.ssga.com

• UITB It charges 0.38% a year while index peers BND, SPAB and SCHZ charge 0.03%. Active security selection is the thing you are paying that gap for.
• Intermediate maturities carry real interest-rate sensitivity: when yields rise, prices fall. This is not a short-duration parking spot.vcm.com
• Moderately traded rather than a volume giant, so spreads can widen in fast markets and limit orders do more work than market orders.

Full SPAB profile⁠

Full UITB profile⁠