Are AGG and LALT in the same category?

AGG is a bond ETF and LALT 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 LALT?

In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned +0.2% and LALT +12.0%.

Which is cheaper, AGG or LALT?

AGG is cheaper, by 1.15 percentage points a year. That is about $115 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Across categories

AGG vs LALT: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, AGG returned +0.2% to LALT's +12.0%, and AGG charges 0.03% to LALT's 1.18%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about AGG and LALT

Net assets: $139.1bn on Nov 4, 2026 for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, and $442m on Nov 3, 2026 for First Trust Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF.

AGG on its own →LALT on its own →

At a glance

+0.2%

AGG total return, 1 year

+12.0%

LALT total return, 1 year

0.03%

AGG expense ratio

1.18%

LALT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

AGG costs 1.15 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.8 points; AGG is far larger, $138.8bn against $442m.

AGG vs LALT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AGG	LALT
Return
Measure	AGG	LALT
Total return, 1 year	+0.2%	+12.0%
Total return, 52 weeks		+11.6%
Against its benchmark
Measure	AGG	LALT
What it tracks	Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index	not published
Treasury bills, 52 weeks		+3.7%
Against cash		8.0 points ahead
Cost and size
Measure	AGG	LALT
Expense ratio	0.03%	1.18%
Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026	$138.8bn	$442m
Holdings
Measure	AGG	LALT
Holdings in common	not published
Risk
Measure	AGG	LALT
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns		+0.34
Beta to the S&P 500		+0.17: about 0.17% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell		fell 0.10%
Down-week capture		8.9%
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 LALT First Trust Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF

Where it sits Bond ETF Alternatives ETF

Issuer iShares First Trust

What it is Tracks an index of US aggregate bonds Multi-strategy

Total return, 1 year +0.2% +12.0%

Its benchmark over the same days +0.2% (SCHZ) not measured

Gap to its benchmark 0.0 pts vs SCHZ not measured

Expense ratio 0.03% 1.18%

Holdings 13462 not read by ETFIQ

Net assets, AGG as of Nov 4, 2026 and LALT as of Nov 3, 2026 $139.1bn $442m

AGG and LALT 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.

LALT

LALT is a multi-strategy 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 +0.34 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.17, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.17% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks LALT fell 0.10% on average, a down-week capture of 8.9%. Over the same 52 weeks LALT returned +11.6% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 8.0 percentage points ahead of cash.

Questions people ask

Are AGG and LALT in the same category?: AGG is a bond ETF and LALT 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 LALT?: In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned +0.2% and LALT +12.0%.
Which is cheaper, AGG or LALT?: AGG is cheaper, by 1.15 percentage points a year. That is about $115 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

AGG vs QAI AGG vs QALT AGG vs FLSP AGG vs QIS BND vs LALT LALT vs TLT GLD vs LALT LALT 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 →LALT on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →AGG dividend history →AGG holdings →LALT dividend history →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

AGG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AGG prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for AGG ↗

LALT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

LALT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for LALT ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

Open data →

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