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Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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AGG vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AGG returned −1.4% to QUAL's +13.1%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $139.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, and $48.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.

AGG on its own →QUAL on its own →
At a glance
−1.4%
AGG total return, 1 year
+13.1%
QUAL total return, 1 year
0.03%
AGG expense ratio
0.15%
QUAL expense ratio

Pair scorecard

AGG costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 14.5 points; AGG is 2.9 times larger.

AGG vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureAGGQUAL
Return
Total return, 1 year−1.4%+13.1%
Drawdown
Below its high3.4%, high on Aug 4, 2020
Benchmark
What it tracksBloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond IndexMSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.03%0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026$139.3bn$48.3bn
Holdings
Holdings in common0%
In the S&P 500, by weight97%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund44.5%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

0%

By the books each fund has filed, AGG and QUAL hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first AGG QUAL
Only in one fund ↓
Only in AGG
BLACKROCK CASH CL INST SL AGENCY 3.02%
TREASURY NOTE 0.40%
TREASURY NOTE (OLD) 0.40%
TREASURY NOTE 0.40%
TREASURY NOTE 0.40%
TREASURY NOTE 0.39%
TREASURY NOTE 0.39%
TREASURY NOTE 0.38%
Only in QUAL
MICROSOFT 8.09%
APPLE 7.38%
NVIDIA 6.28%
META PLATFORMS CLASS A 4.06%
ELI LILLY 4.04%
TJX 3.50%
VISA CLASS A 3.44%
LAM RESEARCH 2.84%
Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

AGG iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF QUAL iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF
Where it sits Bond ETF Stock ETF
Issuer iShares iShares
What it is Tracks an index of US aggregate bonds Tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor
Total return, 1 year −1.4% +13.1%
Its benchmark over the same days −1.3% (SCHZ) +13.6% (MLRG)
Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs SCHZ −0.5 pts vs MLRG
Expense ratio 0.03% 0.15%
Holdings 13469 119
Net assets, AGG as of Oct 27, 2026 and QUAL as of Oct 28, 2026 $139.4bn $48.2bn

AGG and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

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About each fund
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.

QUAL

QUAL tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 119 positions, with the top ten at 44.5%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, AGG or QUAL?
In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned −1.4% and QUAL +13.1%.
Which is cheaper, AGG or QUAL?
AGG is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Other comparisons
AGG vs CGGRAGG vs RDVYAGG vs GRNYAGG vs IVVBND vs QUALQUAL vs SGOVBNDX vs QUALQUAL vs VCIT
Where to next
AGG on its own →QUAL on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →AGG dividend history →AGG holdings →QUAL dividend history →QUAL holdings →Standards and sources →
Sources and dates
AGG and QUAL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗
AGG prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗
iShares page for AGG ↗
QUAL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗
iShares page for QUAL ↗

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 QUAL, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/agg-vs-qual

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