Are AGG and QALT in the same category?

AGG is a bond ETF and QALT 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 QALT?

In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned +0.2% and QALT +6.5%.

Which is cheaper, AGG or QALT?

AGG is cheaper, by 0.77 percentage points a year. That is about $77 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Across categories

AGG vs QALT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, AGG returned +0.2% to QALT's +6.5%, and AGG charges 0.03% to QALT's 0.80%.

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Net assets: $139.1bn on Nov 4, 2026 for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, and $194m on Jun 30, 2026 for SEI DBi Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF.

AGG on its own →QALT on its own →

At a glance

+0.2%

AGG total return, 1 year

+6.5%

QALT total return, 1 year

0.03%

AGG expense ratio

0.80%

QALT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

AGG costs 0.77 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.3 points.

AGG vs QALT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AGG	QALT
Return
Measure	AGG	QALT
Total return, 1 year	+0.2%	+6.5%
Total return, 52 weeks		+6.2%
Against its benchmark
Measure	AGG	QALT
What it tracks	Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index	not published
Treasury bills, 52 weeks		+3.7%
Against cash		2.5 points ahead
Cost and size
Measure	AGG	QALT
Expense ratio	0.03%	0.80%
Net assets, AGG as of Nov 4, 2026 and QALT as of Jun 30, 2026	$139.1bn	$194m
Holdings
Measure	AGG	QALT
Holdings in common	not published
Risk
Measure	AGG	QALT
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns		+0.60
Beta to the S&P 500		+0.31: about 0.31% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell		fell 0.49%
Down-week capture		45.7%
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 QALT SEI DBi Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF

Where it sits Bond ETF Alternatives ETF

Issuer iShares SEI

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

Total return, 1 year +0.2% +6.5%

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% 0.80%

Holdings 13462 not read by ETFIQ

Net assets, AGG as of Nov 4, 2026 and QALT as of Jun 30, 2026 $139.1bn $194m

AGG and QALT 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.

QALT

QALT 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 +0.60 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.31, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.31% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks QALT fell 0.49% on average, a down-week capture of 45.7%. Over the same 52 weeks QALT returned +6.2% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 2.5 percentage points ahead of cash.

Questions people ask

Are AGG and QALT in the same category?: AGG is a bond ETF and QALT 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 QALT?: In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned +0.2% and QALT +6.5%.
Which is cheaper, AGG or QALT?: AGG is cheaper, by 0.77 percentage points a year. That is about $77 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

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

Sources and dates

AGG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AGG prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for AGG ↗

QALT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

QALT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

SEI website ↗

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

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

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