Are AGG and HELO in the same category?

AGG is a bond ETF and HELO 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 HELO?

In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned +0.2% and HELO +7.2%.

Which is cheaper, AGG or HELO?

AGG is cheaper, by 0.47 percentage points a year. That is about $47 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Across categories

AGG vs HELO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, AGG returned +0.2% to HELO's +7.2%, and AGG charges 0.03% to HELO's 0.50%.

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Net assets: $139.1bn on Nov 4, 2026 for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, and $4.9bn on Nov 3, 2026 for JPMorgan Hedged Equity Laddered Overlay ETF.

AGG on its own →HELO on its own →

At a glance

+0.2%

AGG total return, 1 year

+7.2%

HELO total return, 1 year

0.03%

AGG expense ratio

0.50%

HELO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

AGG costs 0.47 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.0 points; AGG is far larger, $138.8bn against $4.9bn.

AGG vs HELO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AGG	HELO
Return
Measure	AGG	HELO
Total return, 1 year	+0.2%	+7.2%
Total return, 52 weeks		+7.0%
Against its benchmark
Measure	AGG	HELO
What it tracks	Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index	not published
Treasury bills, 52 weeks		+3.7%
Against cash		3.4 points ahead
Cost and size
Measure	AGG	HELO
Expense ratio	0.03%	0.50%
Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026	$138.8bn	$4.9bn
Holdings
Measure	AGG	HELO
Holdings in common	not published
Risk
Measure	AGG	HELO
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns		+0.95
Beta to the S&P 500		+0.59: about 0.59% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell		fell 0.65%
Down-week capture		60.7%
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 HELO JPMorgan Hedged Equity Laddered Overlay ETF

Where it sits Bond ETF Alternatives ETF

Issuer iShares JPMorgan

What it is Tracks an index of US aggregate bonds Hedged equity

Total return, 1 year +0.2% +7.2%

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

Gap to its benchmark 0.0 pts vs SCHZ −7.6 pts vs VOO

Expense ratio 0.03% 0.50%

Holdings 13462 not read by ETFIQ

Net assets, AGG as of Nov 4, 2026 and HELO as of Nov 3, 2026 $139.1bn $4.9bn

AGG and HELO 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.

HELO

HELO is a hedged 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 +0.95 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.59, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.59% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks HELO fell 0.65% on average, a down-week capture of 60.7%. Over the same 52 weeks HELO returned +7.0% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 3.4 percentage points ahead of cash.

Questions people ask

Are AGG and HELO in the same category?: AGG is a bond ETF and HELO 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 HELO?: In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned +0.2% and HELO +7.2%.
Which is cheaper, AGG or HELO?: AGG is cheaper, by 0.47 percentage points a year. That is about $47 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

AGG vs TOAK AGG vs ATTR AGG vs QBER AGG vs HEQQ BND vs HELO HELO vs TLT GLD vs HELO HELO 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 →HELO on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →AGG dividend history →AGG holdings →HELO dividend history →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

AGG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AGG prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for AGG ↗

HELO filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

HELO prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

JPMorgan website ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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