Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
AGG vs VGLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
AGG's duration was 5.8 years on Aug 31, 2026 and VGLT's 13.5 on May 31, 2026; both charge 0.03%.
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Net assets: $139.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, and $10.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Long-Term Treasury ETF.
Pair scorecard
Both cost 0.03% a year; their one-year returns differ by 5.3 points; AGG is 13.0 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | AGG | VGLT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −1.4% | −6.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.4%, high on Aug 4, 2020 | 38.8%, high on Aug 4, 2020 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index | Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $135.7bn | $10.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 9% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 4, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026 · 881 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: AGG against SCHZ, Jul 22, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026; VGLT against SCHQ, Oct 18, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026.
AGG returned slightly more: +47.2% to +46.2%. AGG swung less: 4.5% to 12.7%. AGG fell less at its worst: −18.2% to −45.6%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | AGG | VGLT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +47.2% | +46.2% | AGG (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +2.3% | +2.3% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −8.5% | −13.0% | AGG | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 4.5% | 12.7% | AGG | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 3.2% | 9.1% | AGG | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −18.2% | −45.6% | AGG | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 97.5% | 99.5% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.5% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.94 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.95 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.19 | 0.12 | AGG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.26 | 0.17 | AGG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.004 | −0.058 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.13 | 0.05 | AGG | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SCHZ | SCHQ | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.1% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.23 | −0.24 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.6% | −0.4% to +0.3% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.04 | −0.04 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.1% | 0.5% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 881 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, AGG and VGLT hold 9% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
9% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
AGG and VGLT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
AGG and VGLT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. AGG follows Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index and VGLT follows Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index.
- Holdings in common. 9% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and May 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 AGG returned −1.4% and VGLT −6.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.3 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.
VGLT
VGLT tracks an index of Long-term Treasury. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −6.7% with distributions reinvested, against −6.7% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index. It sat 38.8% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
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 VGLT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/agg-vs-vglt
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). AGG against VGLT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/agg-vs-vglt
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