iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF | AGG |
by Zachary Evens
IShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF's AGG conservative portfolio and razor-thin expense ratio make it a compelling option. The fund tracks the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index, which includes taxable, investment-grade US bonds with at least one year until maturity. Issuing activity in that market, which is dominated by US Treasuries, will dictate the portfolio's composition. Market-value weighting emphasizes the most liquid issues by harnessing the market's collective wisdom on the relative value of each bond. The US investment-grade bond market is highly efficient and liquid, giving this fund an edge on pricier active strategies that must take greater risk to recoup their fees. Active managers allocate a higher percentage of assets to lower-quality bonds than this fund and the performance of those credit-risky bonds helps steer peer-relative performance. About 75% of the fund's assets carry an AA or AAA credit rating, 9 percentage points greater than the Morningstar Category average, as of March 2024. Some peers also hold a small allocation to high-yield bonds; this fund does not. Since credit risk is muted, interest-rate risk primarily drives this fund’s performance. Its average effective duration was 6.1 years as of March 2024. While the gap has narrowed recently, its duration remains slightly little longer than the category average. This makes the fund more sensitive to interest-rate movements than some peers. Since its 2003 inception, the fund beat its average peer by 19 basis points annualized, largely thanks to its 0.03% fee. Performance patterns have been predictable in different market environments. Thanks to minimal credit risk, the fund performs better than peers when credit spreads widen but worse when they narrow. Fund performance may be more volatile than peers when interest rates fluctuate because of its slightly longer duration. However, the gap is small, meaning those deviations should be kept to a minimum. |
Morningstar Pillars | |
Pessoas | Above Average |
Parent | Above Average |
Processo | Above Average |