Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
AGG vs JNK: Differences, Returns & Fees
AGG's duration was 5.8 years on Aug 31, 2026 and JNK's 3.4 on Jun 30, 2026; AGG charges 0.03% to JNK's 0.40%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $139.4bn for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF and $5.9bn for State Street SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
AGG costs 0.37 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.1 points; AGG is far larger, $139.4bn against $5.9bn.
| Measure | AGG | JNK |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −1.4% | +1.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.4%, high on Aug 4, 2020 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index | Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.40% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $139.4bn | $5.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 14, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 984 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: AGG against SCHZ, Jul 22, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026; JNK against AGG, Dec 14, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026.
JNK returned more: +141.3% to +67.6%. AGG swung less: 5.4% to 12.7%. AGG fell less at its worst: −18.2% to −38.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | AGG | JNK | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +67.6% | +141.3% | JNK | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +2.8% | +4.8% | JNK | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −4.4% | −35.6% | AGG | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 5.4% | 12.7% | AGG | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 4.1% | 9.4% | AGG | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −18.2% | −38.4% | AGG | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 97.5% | 54.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.5% | 35.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.94 | 1.16 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.95 | 0.24 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.26 | 0.32 | JNK | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.35 | 0.43 | JNK | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.004 | 0.035 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.15 | 0.12 | AGG | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SCHZ | AGG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.1% a year | +2.4% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.23 | 0.94 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.6% | −2.6% to +7.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.04 | 0.24 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.1% | 11.1% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 984 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, AGG and JNK hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
AGG and JNK on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
AGG and JNK do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. AGG follows Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index and JNK follows Bloomberg High Yield Very Liquid Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 AGG returned −1.4% and JNK +1.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.1 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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AGG
AGG tracks an index of US aggregate bonds. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.4% with distributions reinvested, against −1.3% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 3.4% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.
JNK
JNK tracks the Bloomberg High Yield Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.7% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.40% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, AGG or JNK?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned −1.4% and JNK +1.7%.
- Which is cheaper, AGG or JNK?
- AGG is cheaper, by 0.37 percentage points a year. That is about $37 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, AGG against JNK, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/agg-vs-jnk
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). AGG against JNK. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/agg-vs-jnk
[AGG against JNK (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/agg-vs-jnk)
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