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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned −1.4% and XLU −3.0%.

Which is cheaper, AGG or XLU?

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 XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AGG returned −1.4% to XLU's −3.0%; 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 $23.9bn for State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF.

AGG on its own →XLU on its own →

At a glance

−1.4%

AGG total return, 1 year

−3.0%

XLU total return, 1 year

0.03%

AGG expense ratio

0.08%

XLU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

AGG costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.6 points; AGG is 5.8 times larger.

AGG vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AGG	XLU
Return
Measure	AGG	XLU
Total return, 1 year	−1.4%	−3.0%
Drawdown
Measure	AGG	XLU
Below its high	3.4%, high on Aug 4, 2020	9.1%, high on Feb 27, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	AGG	XLU
What it tracks	Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index	Utilities Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	AGG	XLU
Expense ratio	0.03%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$139.4bn	$23.9bn
Holdings
Measure	AGG	XLU
Holdings in common	0%
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		58.7%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, AGG and XLU 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 XLU

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 XLU

NEXTERA ENERGY INC 12.76%

SOUTHERN CO 7.91%

DUKE ENERGY CORP 7.22%

CONSTELLATION ENERGY 6.33%

AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER 5.26%

DOMINION ENERGY INC 4.26%

SEMPRA 4.12%

ENTERGY CORP 3.75%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

AGG iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF XLU State Street Utilities 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 Utilities

Total return, 1 year −1.4% −3.0%

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 32

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $139.4bn $23.9bn

AGG and XLU 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.

XLU

XLU tracks an index of Utilities. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.0% 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 32 positions, with the top ten at 58.7%. It sat 9.1% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, AGG or XLU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AGG returned −1.4% and XLU −3.0%.
Which is cheaper, AGG or XLU?: 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 XLY AGG vs XLI AGG vs XLP BND vs XLU SGOV vs XLU BNDX vs XLU VCIT vs XLU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

AGG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AGG prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for AGG ↗

XLU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

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

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