At a glance
AGG charges 0.03% a year, below the 0.09% average of the 7 funds most like it (the cheapest of 8). It has $138.32B in assets, the largest of that group; it paid 4.13% of its price in distributions over the past 12 months, monthly. Over the past year it returned −0.4% with distributions reinvested, 2nd of those 8 funds; over three years it returned +4.7% a year. At its worst it fell 9.6% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 14.5% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 2 months and 36 months after the lows. Its ten largest positions make up 3.9% of the fund, out of 13,382 in all.
The short version
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) is a BlackRock index fund that tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a broad basket of investment-grade (higher-rated) U.S. Treasuries, mortgage-backed securities and corporate bonds. Its annual fee, 0.03% of assets, matches the lowest among similar funds, whose average is 0.09%. It is also by far the largest of them, with $138.3 billion in net assets as of August 31, 2026, and pays income monthly.
Price history
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AGG -0.4% over the year to Nov 2, 2026, total return with distributions reinvested.
How it has behaved
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | Since start | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AGG official prospectus, to Dec 31, 2025 | — | +7.19% | — | -0.38% | +1.97% | — |
| Bloomberg US Universal Index index, same period | — | +7.58% | — | +0.06% | +2.44% | — |
| AGG price data to Nov 2, 2026 | -0.8% | -0.4% | +4.7% | -0.2% | +1.4% | +2.9% |
- Over the year to Nov 2, 2026, AGG returned -0.4%, 2nd of 8 among similar funds.
- Its 5-year annualized return was -0.2% and its 10-year +1.4%.
- In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 9.6% and regained its old high 2.1 months after the low.
- Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-13.0%); its best was 2019 (+8.5%).
- The deepest fall in its price history was 18.4% (Aug 4, 2020 to Oct 20, 2022), not yet recovered.
Show as a table
| Year | Price data | Prospectus (official) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -0.8% | — |
| 2025 | +7.2% | +7.19% |
| 2024 | +1.3% | +1.37% |
| 2023 | +5.6% | +5.58% |
| 2022 | -13.0% | -13.06% |
| 2021 | -1.8% | -1.67% |
| 2020 | +7.5% | +7.43% |
| 2019 | +8.5% | +8.68% |
| 2018 | +0.1% | -0.05% |
| 2017 | +3.6% | +3.53% |
| 2016 | +2.4% | +2.56% |
| 2015 | +0.5% | — |
| 2014 | +6.0% | — |
| 2013 | -2.0% | — |
| 2012 | +3.8% | — |
| 2011 | +7.7% | — |
| 2010 | +6.3% | — |
| 2009 | +3.0% | — |
| 2008 | +7.9% | — |
| 2007 | +6.6% | — |
| 2006 | +3.9% | — |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Gained 7.4% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 12.8%, back to its old high 2.2 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 1.3% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 9.6%, back to its old high 2.1 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 14.4% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 14.5%, back to its old high 35.6 months after the low |
Dividends and income
Show as a table
| Year | Per share | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | $2.9815 | |
| 2025 | $3.8900 | +7.5% |
| 2024 | $3.6200 | +16.8% |
| 2023 | $3.1000 | +33.0% |
| 2022 | $2.3300 | +14.8% |
| 2021 | $2.0300 | -20.1% |
| 2020 | $2.5400 | -16.4% |
| 2019 | $3.0400 | +5.2% |
| 2018 | $2.8900 | +13.3% |
| 2017 | $2.5500 | -1.5% |
| 2016 | $2.5900 | -2.6% |
| 2015 | $2.6600 | +0.8% |
| 2014 | $2.6400 | +6.9% |
| 2013 | $2.4700 | -24.5% |
| 2012 | $3.2700 | -6.3% |
| 2011 | $3.4900 | -11.2% |
| 2010 | $3.9300 | -1.7% |
| 2009 | $4.0000 | -14.3% |
| 2008 | $4.6700 | -4.9% |
| 2007 | $4.9100 | +5.0% |
| 2006 | $4.6780 |
Living on AGG: its income record, cuts, and how much a $1,000 monthly income takes →
What's inside
As of Aug 31, 2026, the fund held 13,382 securities; the ten largest made up 3.91% of assets, and 3.53% sat in cash and money-market holdings.
| Holding | Weight | |
|---|---|---|
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.41% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.40% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.40% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.40% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.39% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.39% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.39% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.38% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.38% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.38% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.37% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.37% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.37% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.36% | |
| United States Treasury Bonds and notes | 0.34% |
By country
United States 92.63%XX 0.96%Canada 0.95%United Kingdom 0.83%Japan 0.52%By issuer
US Treasury 46.02%Companies 24.95%US government-sponsored enterprises 18.26%US government agencies 5.61%Foreign governments 2.33%The bonds mature in 12.4 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 3.85%.
Source: N-PORT holdings report as of Aug 31, 2026. Cash, money-market funds and derivatives are shown separately from the securities list.What changed recently
- Over the three months to Aug 31, 2026, investors added a net $4.20B (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
- Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.25%, -1.31%, +0.38%.
How it works
AGG aims to match the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, which covers investment-grade (higher-rated) U.S. bonds: Treasuries, other government-related debt, corporate bonds, and securities backed by pools of mortgages or other loans. Each bond must be fixed-rate, taxable and in U.S. dollars, with at least $300 million outstanding and a year or more to maturity; mortgage and asset-backed securities face lower thresholds. Bonds are weighted by market value, so the biggest borrowers carry the most weight. The index is updated monthly.
The index held 13,972 issues as of February 28, 2026. Rather than own every one, BlackRock uses "representative sampling": holding a subset that matches the index's duration (sensitivity to rate changes), credit ratings, maturity, yield and sector mix. The fund had 13,382 holdings as of August 31, 2026, and must keep at least 80% of assets in index bonds or equivalent TBA contracts.
For mortgage bonds, the fund may regularly use to-be-announced (TBA) contracts: standard agreements to purchase mortgage bonds from issuers such as Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose exact loan pools are named only days before settlement. Until then, it holds short-term instruments, including BlackRock money market funds whose fees it also bears. It may lend securities worth up to one-third of its assets, and it reported 62% portfolio turnover.
What it really costs
- AGG charges 0.03% a year, versus an average of 0.09% for the similar funds below (1st of 8, cheapest first).
- Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $3 in the first year and $39 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).
| Cost of $10,000 (SEC example) | 1 yr | 3 yrs | 5 yrs | 10 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AGG | $3 | $10 | $17 | $39 |
Structure and tax notes
- Bond prices move opposite to interest rates; the longer the maturities it holds, the more its price reacts to rate changes.
In a retirement portfolio
AGG tracks the whole U.S. investment-grade bond market for a 0.03% annual fee, which makes it a broad, low-cost fund that can anchor the bond side of a long-term portfolio.
AGG holds thousands of investment-grade (higher-rated) Treasury, mortgage and corporate bonds from the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. It held up better than stocks in 2008 and 2020, and its sharpest dips in those years, 12.8% and 9.6%, recovered within about two months. Rising interest rates, which lower bond prices, hit harder. It lost about 13% in 2022, its worst calendar year, and did not regain its January 2022 level until September 2025. Its deepest drop, 18.4% from August 2020 to October 2022, was still unrecovered on October 27, 2026. Selling shares to fund spending in a slump locks in losses.
AGG pays income monthly, and its yield over the 12 months to October 27, 2026, was 4.13%. Its 0.03% annual fee is lower than the 0.09% average of similar funds. In the SEC's standard example, that comes to $39 over 10 years on $10,000. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan needs to weigh the whole portfolio, not one fund.
Who it may suit — and who should look elsewhere
May suit
- Investors wanting one low-cost core bond holding: 0.03% a year, or $39 over 10 years on $10,000 in the SEC's standard cost example.
- Retirees drawing regular income: AGG pays monthly, and its trailing 12-month yield was 4.12% as of October 30, 2026.
- Stock investors wanting a diversifier: AGG gained 7.4% from the stock market's October 2007 peak to its March 2009 low.
Look elsewhere if
- Savers who need a steady balance: AGG lost 13.06% in 2022 and took until September 2025 to regain its January 2022 high.
- Investors wanting less rate sensitivity: holdings averaged 12.4 years to maturity as of August 31, 2026, so its price can fall noticeably when rates rise.
- High-bracket investors wanting tax-exempt income: the index admits only taxable bonds; municipal debt was 0.38% of holdings as of August 31, 2026.
Close alternatives
Matched by bond funds with the closest average maturity and issuer mix (N-PORT).
| Fund | Avg. maturity | Cost | Net assets | 1 yr | 3 yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AGG this fund | 12.4 yrs | 0.03% | $138.32B | -0.4% | +4.7% |
| SCHZ Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | 12.5 yrs | 0.03% | $10.60B | -1.1% | +5.2% |
| BBAG JPMorgan BetaBuilders U.S. Aggregate Bond E… | 12.5 yrs | 0.03% | $1.03B | -0.8% | +5.3% |
| EAGG iShares ESG Aware US Aggregate Bond ETF | 12.7 yrs | 0.1% | $5.09B | -1.2% | +5.1% |
| SPAB SPDR Portfolio Aggregate Bond ETF | 12.7 yrs | 0.03% | $9.63B | -1.2% | +5.2% |
| AGZD WisdomTree Interest Rate Hedged U.S. Aggreg… | 12.6 yrs | 0.23% | $144.5M | +4.3% | +5.8% |
| GCOR Goldman Sachs Access U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | 12.7 yrs | 0.08% | $833.9M | -1.4% | +5.1% |
| NUBD Nuveen ESG U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF | 12.3 yrs | 0.16% | $463.2M | -1.3% | +5.1% |
Compared head to head: AGG vs BND · all comparisons →
Questions investors ask
Does AGG pay monthly dividends?
Yes. AGG pays distributions every month. Over the 12 months to October 30, 2026, it paid about $3.97 per share, a trailing yield (past year's payouts divided by the share price) of 4.12%. The payments come from bond interest, so they can change. The prospectus warns that income may fall when interest rates drop, because maturing, called or prepaid bonds may be replaced with lower-yielding ones.
What's the difference between AGG and SCHZ?
Very little in cost or makeup. The Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (SCHZ) also charges 0.03% a year. Its holdings averaged 12.5 years to maturity, against AGG's 12.4 years as of August 31, 2026, and its mix of bond issuers closely matches AGG's. The biggest gap is size: AGG, from BlackRock's iShares, had $138.3 billion in net assets as of August 31, 2026, while SCHZ had $10.6 billion as of June 30, 2026.
What bonds are in AGG?
AGG owns a broad slice of the U.S. investment-grade bond market: 13,382 holdings as of August 31, 2026. By issuer, 46% was U.S. Treasury debt, 25% corporate bonds, 18% government-sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and 6% U.S. government agencies. Mortgage-backed securities, which pass along payments from pools of mortgages, made up 24% of assets. The largest positions were individual U.S. Treasury notes of about 0.4% each, and the top 10 totaled just 3.91%.
Can you lose money in AGG?
Yes. AGG lost 13.06% in 2022, its worst calendar year among the 10 shown in its prospectus, and it averaged a 0.38% annual loss over the five years through December 31, 2025. The main risk is interest rates: bond prices fall when rates rise, and holdings averaging 12.4 years to maturity as of August 31, 2026, make the fund sensitive. Its deepest decline since July 2005 was 18.4%, from August 2020 to October 2022, and it had not fully recovered as of October 30, 2026.
Does AGG go up when stocks crash?
Sometimes, but not reliably. From the stock market's October 2007 peak to its March 2009 low, AGG gained 7.4%, though it briefly fell 12.8% in September–October 2008 and recovered by December. In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 9.6% in March, regaining that by late May. In the 2022 bear market, it dropped 14.5% from January to late September, alongside stocks. Its one-year beta, a measure of how much it moves with stocks, was 0.12 as of October 30, 2026.