Are AGG and HEQT in the same category?

AGG is a bond ETF and HEQT 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 HEQT?

In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned +0.2% and HEQT +10.3%.

Which is cheaper, AGG or HEQT?

AGG is cheaper, by 0.45 percentage points a year. That is about $45 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Across categories

AGG vs HEQT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, AGG returned +0.2% to HEQT's +10.3%, and AGG charges 0.03% to HEQT's 0.48%.

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Net assets: $139.1bn on Nov 4, 2026 for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, and $307m on Nov 3, 2026 for Simplify Hedged Equity ETF.

AGG on its own →HEQT on its own →

At a glance

+0.2%

AGG total return, 1 year

+10.3%

HEQT total return, 1 year

0.03%

AGG expense ratio

0.48%

HEQT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

AGG costs 0.45 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.1 points; AGG is far larger, $138.8bn against $307m.

AGG vs HEQT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AGG	HEQT
Return
Measure	AGG	HEQT
Total return, 1 year	+0.2%	+10.3%
Total return, 52 weeks		+10.2%
Against its benchmark
Measure	AGG	HEQT
What it tracks	Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index	not published
Treasury bills, 52 weeks		+3.7%
Against cash		6.5 points ahead
Cost and size
Measure	AGG	HEQT
Expense ratio	0.03%	0.48%
Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026	$138.8bn	$307m
Holdings
Measure	AGG	HEQT
Holdings in common	not published
Risk
Measure	AGG	HEQT
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns		+0.97
Beta to the S&P 500		+0.56: about 0.56% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell		fell 0.58%
Down-week capture		54.2%
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 HEQT Simplify Hedged Equity ETF

Where it sits Bond ETF Alternatives ETF

Issuer iShares Simplify

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

Total return, 1 year +0.2% +10.3%

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

Gap to its benchmark 0.0 pts vs SCHZ −4.5 pts vs VOO

Expense ratio 0.03% 0.48%

Holdings 13462 not read by ETFIQ

Net assets, AGG as of Nov 4, 2026 and HEQT as of Nov 3, 2026 $139.1bn $307m

AGG and HEQT 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.

HEQT

HEQT 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 +0.97 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.56, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.56% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks HEQT fell 0.58% on average, a down-week capture of 54.2%. Over the same 52 weeks HEQT returned +10.2% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 6.5 percentage points ahead of cash.

Questions people ask

Are AGG and HEQT in the same category?: AGG is a bond ETF and HEQT 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 HEQT?: In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned +0.2% and HEQT +10.3%.
Which is cheaper, AGG or HEQT?: AGG is cheaper, by 0.45 percentage points a year. That is about $45 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

AGG vs HOLA AGG vs HEDG AGG vs SHDG AGG vs TAIL BND vs HEQT HEQT vs TLT GLD vs HEQT HEQT 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 →HEQT on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →AGG dividend history →AGG holdings →HEQT dividend history →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

AGG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AGG prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for AGG ↗

HEQT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

HEQT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Simplify website ↗

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

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

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