Are AGG and FTLS in the same category?

AGG is a bond ETF and FTLS is an alternatives ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.

Which returned more over the last year, AGG or FTLS?

In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned +0.2% and FTLS +8.5%.

Which is cheaper, AGG or FTLS?

AGG is cheaper, by 1.35 percentage points a year. That is about $135 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Across categories

AGG vs FTLS: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, AGG returned +0.2% to FTLS's +8.5%, and AGG charges 0.03% to FTLS's 1.38%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about AGG and FTLS

Net assets: $139.1bn on Nov 4, 2026 for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, and $2.6bn on Nov 3, 2026 for First Trust Long/Short Equity.

AGG on its own →FTLS on its own →

At a glance

+0.2%

AGG total return, 1 year

+8.5%

FTLS total return, 1 year

0.03%

AGG expense ratio

1.38%

FTLS expense ratio

Pair scorecard

AGG costs 1.35 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.3 points; AGG is far larger, $138.8bn against $2.6bn.

AGG vs FTLS: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AGG	FTLS
Return
Measure	AGG	FTLS
Total return, 1 year	+0.2%	+8.5%
Total return, 52 weeks		+7.7%
Against its benchmark
Measure	AGG	FTLS
What it tracks	Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index	not published
Treasury bills, 52 weeks		+3.7%
Against cash		4.1 points ahead
Cost and size
Measure	AGG	FTLS
Expense ratio	0.03%	1.38%
Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026	$138.8bn	$2.6bn
Holdings
Measure	AGG	FTLS
Holdings in common	not published
Risk
Measure	AGG	FTLS
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns		+0.83
Beta to the S&P 500		+0.48: about 0.48% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell		fell 0.48%
Down-week capture		44.7%
Weeks the S&P 500 fell		26 of 52, by 1.07% on average

Method

Side by side

AGG iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF FTLS First Trust Long/Short Equity

Where it sits Bond ETF Alternatives ETF

Issuer iShares First Trust

What it is Tracks an index of US aggregate bonds Long-short equity

Total return, 1 year +0.2% +8.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +0.2% (SCHZ) +14.8% (VOO)

Gap to its benchmark 0.0 pts vs SCHZ −6.3 pts vs VOO

Expense ratio 0.03% 1.38%

Holdings 13462 not read by ETFIQ

Net assets, AGG as of Nov 4, 2026 and FTLS as of Nov 3, 2026 $139.1bn $2.6bn

AGG and FTLS on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

AGG

AGG tracks an index of US aggregate bonds. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 it returned +0.2% with distributions reinvested, against +0.2% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.

FTLS

FTLS is a long-short equity fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.83 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.48, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.48% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks FTLS fell 0.48% on average, a down-week capture of 44.7%. Over the same 52 weeks FTLS returned +7.7% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 4.1 percentage points ahead of cash.

Questions people ask

Are AGG and FTLS in the same category?: AGG is a bond ETF and FTLS is an alternatives ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
Which returned more over the last year, AGG or FTLS?: In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned +0.2% and FTLS +8.5%.
Which is cheaper, AGG or FTLS?: AGG is cheaper, by 1.35 percentage points a year. That is about $135 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

AGG vs CLSE AGG vs CSM AGG vs ORR AGG vs FFLS BND vs FTLS FTLS vs TLT FTLS vs GLD FTLS vs QQQ

Where to next

BIL, the T-bill fund these are measured against →SPY, the S&P 500 fund these are measured against →AGG on its own →FTLS on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →AGG dividend history →AGG holdings →FTLS dividend history →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

AGG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AGG prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for AGG ↗

FTLS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FTLS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FTLS ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, AGG against FTLS, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/agg-vs-ftls

Open data →

Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.