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

In the year to Sep 19, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned −0.4% and FTLS returned +11.9%, so FTLS returned more.

Which is cheaper, AGG or FTLS?

AGG charges 0.03% a year and FTLS charges 1.38%, so AGG is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Are AGG and FTLS the same kind of fund?

No. AGG is an index ETF and FTLS is an alternatives ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Data as of Sep 19, 2026.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

AGG vs FTLS: how they differ

Over the year FTLS returned more, +11.9% to AGG's −0.4%, and AGG charges 0.03% to FTLS's 1.38%.

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

AGG and FTLS on the fields both publish, as of Sep 19, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	AGG iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	FTLS First Trust Long/Short Equity
Where it sits	Core fund	Alternatives ETF
Issuer	iShares	First Trust
What it is	Tracks an index of US aggregate bonds	Long-short equity
Total return, 1 year	−0.4%	+11.9%
S&P 500 over the same days	+16.6%	+16.6%
Gap to the S&P 500	−17.0 pts	−4.7 pts
Expense ratio	0.03%	1.38%
Holdings	13428	not filed
Net assets	$137.3bn	$2.6bn

AGG in plain words

AGG tracks an index of US aggregate bonds. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026 it returned −0.4% with distributions reinvested, against +16.6% for the S&P 500 and +21.8% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 3.7% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Sep 18, 2026.

FTLS in plain words

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 Sep 18, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.77 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.44, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.44% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 22 of those 52 weeks, by 1.24% on average. In the same weeks FTLS fell 0.52% on average, a down-week capture of 42.3%. Over the same 52 weeks FTLS returned +11.4% and a Treasury bill fund +3.6%, so it finished 7.7 percentage points ahead of cash.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, AGG or FTLS?: In the year to Sep 19, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned −0.4% and FTLS returned +11.9%, so FTLS returned more.
Which is cheaper, AGG or FTLS?: AGG charges 0.03% a year and FTLS charges 1.38%, so AGG is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are AGG and FTLS the same kind of fund?: No. AGG is an index ETF and FTLS is an alternatives ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Other comparisons

Where to next

Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

AGG against FTLS, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 19, 2026. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, AGG against FTLS, data as of Sep 19, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/agg-vs-ftls Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources