Which returned more over the last year, AGG or XLB?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned −1.4% and XLB +18.5%.

Which is cheaper, AGG or XLB?

AGG is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

AGG vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AGG returned −1.4% to XLB's +18.5%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $139.4bn for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF and $8.1bn for State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF.

AGG on its own →XLB on its own →

At a glance

−1.4%

AGG total return, 1 year

+18.5%

XLB total return, 1 year

0.03%

AGG expense ratio

0.08%

XLB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

AGG costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 19.9 points; AGG is 17.2 times larger.

AGG vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AGG	XLB
Return
Measure	AGG	XLB
Total return, 1 year	−1.4%	+18.5%
Drawdown
Measure	AGG	XLB
Below its high	3.4%, high on Aug 4, 2020
Benchmark
Measure	AGG	XLB
What it tracks	Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index	Materials Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	AGG	XLB
Expense ratio	0.03%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$139.4bn	$8.1bn
Holdings
Measure	AGG	XLB
Holdings in common	0%
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		58.5%

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

What they share

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

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first AGG XLB

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 0.39%

TREASURY NOTE 0.38%

Only in XLB

LINDE PLC 12.96%

NEWMONT CORP 6.56%

FREEPORT MCMORAN INC 5.23%

ECOLAB INC 4.98%

VULCAN MATERIALS CO 4.89%

NUCOR CORP 4.89%

AIR PRODUCTS + CHEMICALS INC 4.84%

STEEL DYNAMICS INC 4.77%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

AGG iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF XLB State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Bond ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks an index of US aggregate bonds Tracks an index of Materials

Total return, 1 year −1.4% +18.5%

Its benchmark over the same days −1.3% (SCHZ) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs SCHZ not measured

Expense ratio 0.03% 0.08%

Holdings 13469 25

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $139.4bn $8.1bn

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

Alert

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.

XLB

XLB tracks an index of Materials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 25 positions, with the top ten at 58.5%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, AGG or XLB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned −1.4% and XLB +18.5%.
Which is cheaper, AGG or XLB?: AGG is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

AGG vs VPU AGG vs VDC AGG vs VDE AGG vs VOX BND vs XLB SGOV vs XLB BNDX vs XLB VCIT vs XLB

Where to next

AGG on its own →XLB on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →AGG dividend history →AGG holdings →XLB dividend history →XLB holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

AGG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AGG prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for AGG ↗

XLB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, AGG against XLB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/agg-vs-xlb

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