SHY vs AGG: Performance, Holdings, Fees & Risk
SHY and AGG are ETFs, but they can differ materially in exposure, yield, fees and risk. SHY is iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF, while AGG is iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF. AGG is broader by holdings count, with 13,395 positions versus 92 for SHY. SHY is more concentrated at the top, based on top-10 holdings weight. Current AlgovestIQ evidence has AGG ahead on AIQ Score, 64 versus 54.
What is the main difference between SHY and AGG?
AGG holds 13,395 positions to SHY's 92, and 15% of their weight is in the same securities.
| Metric | SHY | AGG |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.03% |
| Holdings | 92 | 13,395 |
| Top-10 concentration | 15.9% | 3.8% |
| Distribution yieldTrailing 12 months | 3.62% | 4.16% |
| Average volume | 3,950,340 | 9,555,111 |
| Performance | ||
| 1Y return | -2.2% | -5.8% |
| YTD return | -1.8% | -4.6% |
| 5Y annualized returnTotal return, distributions reinvested | +1.9% | -0.3% |
| Risk | ||
| Annualized volatility | 1.8% | 4.2% |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -2.6% | -7.2% |
| Max drawdown (5Y)Total return, distributions reinvested | -5.4% | -17.3% |
| Beta | 0.03 | 0.14 |
| Sharpe ratio | -3.48 | -2.29 |
| Sortino ratio | -3.89 | -3.19 |
| AlgovestIQ | ||
| AIQ Score | 54/100 | 64/100 |
| AIQ Edge Score | 5/10 | 9/10 |
| Momentum | 49/100 | 55/100 |
| Risk Resilience | 72/100 | 93/100 |
AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF vs iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
AGG leads
AGG leads by 10 AIQ points, primarily on Risk Resilience and Value.
Competitive: 3 of 4 evidence groups support AGG, and its current signal state is conflicted.
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF
The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors AGG over SHY, 64 versus 54 as of Oct 21, 2026. AGG's advantage is driven primarily by stronger risk resilience and value. AGG also shows the weaker technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average. 3 of 4 covered evidence groups favor AGG today, and the comparison is rated Competitive on stability: the leader is throwing conflicting signals. AGG lead: Stable — the AIQ differential has held near 10 points over 30 sessions. AGG leads on all four AIQ factor dimensions. Value is itself one of those four, so a sweep is not explained by valuation alone — it deserves additional scrutiny for unmodeled catalysts, expectations or event risk.
Compare iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF and iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF across performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, drawdown, volatility and the Algovestiq AIQ Score.
SHY vs AGG: which fits what
Each row is settled by a single measure. Where the gap is too small to matter it reads Similar, and no row decides the comparison as a whole.
| If you want | SHY | AGG | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower costExpense ratio | 0.15% | 0.03% | AGG |
| Broader diversificationNumber of holdings | 92 | 13,395 | AGG |
| Lower concentrationWeight of the 10 largest holdings | 15.9% | 3.8% | AGG |
| Higher incomeTrailing 12-month distribution yield | 3.62% | 4.16% | AGG |
| Smaller drawdownsMax drawdown, 5 years | -5.4% | -17.3% | SHY |
| Lower volatilityAnnualized volatility, 1 year | 1.8% | 4.2% | SHY |
Similar means the gap is within 0.01 percentage points of expense ratio, 25% more holdings, 3 points of top-10 weight, 0.2 points of yield, 2 points of drawdown or 1 point of volatility. Past drawdowns and volatility describe the funds’ history, not their future.
Performance over time
Total return with distributions reinvested, from daily closes for both ETFs.
Total return comparison
Growth of $10,000, distributions reinvested
Split-adjusted closes; each distribution is reinvested at the close on its ex-dividend date. Taxes and trading costs are not modeled.
Compare SHY and AGG against another ticker
Open a multi-ticker workspace without changing this focused pair page.
AIQ Factor Divergence
Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.
- Risk Resilience72 vs 93AGG +21
- Value36 vs 45AGG +9
- Quality67 vs 75AGG +8
- Momentum49 vs 55AGG +6
3 of 4 evidence groups favor AGG. AGG’s edge is concentrated in risk resilience and value.
What changed since the last close
Latest scored session 2026-10-20, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-19.
Largest factor move: Momentum -2, not enough on its own to move the overall score.
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 6 active signals are unchanged.
Largest factor move: Momentum +3
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 6 active signals are unchanged.
AGG's lead widened by 1 AIQ point in the latest session.
Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — SHY and AGG both carry a full feed there.
The central trade-off
AGG (iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF): the stronger current systematic profile, led by risk resilience and value.
SHY (iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF): the counter-case, on technicals.
Fund facts, side by side
Two funds tracking overlapping universes are separated by cost and risk far more than by holdings. Those lead here.
| Measure | SHY | AGG | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.03% | Lower is better — it compounds against you every year you hold. |
| Holdings | 92 | 13,395 | More holdings means broader diversification, not better returns. |
| Average volume | 3,950,340 | 9,555,111 | Liquidity — matters most if you trade size. |
| Annualized volatility | 1.8% | 4.2% | Lower is a steadier ride for the same exposure. |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -2.6% | -7.2% | The worst peak-to-trough loss over the past year. |
| Sharpe ratio | -3.48 | -2.29 | Return per unit of risk. Higher is better. |
| Beta | 0.03 | 0.14 | Sensitivity to the broad market. Neither direction is better — it depends on the role in your portfolio. |
Where the exposure actually sits
Sector exposure for each fund, ordered by the size of the difference.
How much of the same holdings they own
SHY and AGG share 15.14% of their weighted exposure across 90 common holdings.
Every SHY holding is also in AGG, and 13,270 holdings are unique to AGG. Owning both is genuinely additive — most of the capital sits in different securities.
SHY is the more concentrated of the two: its ten largest positions are 15.91% of the fund, against 3.79% for AGG (92 holdings vs 13,395). Concentration cuts both ways — it is what drives outperformance when the top names work, and what makes the drawdown deeper when they do not.
Largest shared positions
| Holding | SHY | AGG | Shared |
|---|---|---|---|
| TREASURY NOTE 3.88% 07/15/2028 | 1.22% | 0.37% | 0.37% |
| TREASURY NOTE 3.88% 06/15/2028 | 1.25% | 0.35% | 0.35% |
| TREASURY NOTE 3.50% 10/15/2028 | 0.94% | 0.35% | 0.35% |
| TREASURY NOTE 3.63% 08/15/2028 | 1.38% | 0.31% | 0.31% |
| TREASURY NOTE 3.50% 01/31/2028 | 1.72% | 0.29% | 0.29% |
| TREASURY NOTE 3.38% 09/15/2028 | 0.91% | 0.29% | 0.29% |
| TREASURY NOTE 1.00% 07/31/2028 | 1.26% | 0.27% | 0.27% |
| TREASURY NOTE 3.38% 02/29/2028 | 0.26% | 0.25% | 0.25% |
Shared weight is the lower of the two positions — the portion of capital both funds genuinely have in the same security.
What SHY adds that AGG doesn’t
| Holding | SHY | AGG |
|---|---|---|
| TREASURY NOTE 1.25% 04/30/2028 | 1.98% | 0.19% |
| TREASURY NOTE 3.63% 08/31/2029 | 1.82% | 0.18% |
| TREASURY NOTE 3.50% 01/31/2028 | 1.72% | 0.29% |
| TREASURY NOTE 1.25% 06/30/2028 | 1.61% | 0.18% |
| TREASURY NOTE 4.63% 04/30/2029 | 1.54% | 0.2% |
| TREASURY NOTE 4.50% 05/31/2029 | 1.51% | 0.19% |
What AGG adds that SHY doesn’t
| Holding | AGG | SHY |
|---|---|---|
| TREASURY NOTE (OLD) 4.38% 05/15/2036 | 0.39% | Not held |
| TREASURY NOTE 4.63% 02/15/2035 | 0.39% | Not held |
| TREASURY NOTE 4.25% 11/15/2034 | 0.39% | Not held |
| TREASURY NOTE 4.38% 05/15/2034 | 0.38% | Not held |
| TREASURY NOTE 4.00% 02/28/2030 | 0.38% | Not held |
| TREASURY NOTE 3.88% 08/15/2034 | 0.37% | Not held |
Each list is a fund’s largest positions by weight that the other fund does not hold, or holds at less than half the weight.
AIQ Agreement Matrix
3 of 4 covered evidence groups favor AGG. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.
| Evidence group | Favors | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| AIQ Score | AGG | 54 vs 64 |
| Fundamentals | Not covered | Not covered |
| Valuation | AGG | Value 36 vs 45 |
| Technicals | SHY | Price vs 50-day -0.3% vs -0.8%; vs 200-day -1.1% vs -3.2% |
| Risk Resilience | AGG | Risk Resilience 72 vs 93 |
| Analyst expectations | Not covered | Not covered |
✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of SHY and AGG and are excluded from the count.
AIQ Decision Stability
The two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.
- The AIQ gap is moderate at 10 points.
- The lead has been steady session to session. (supports the conclusion holding)
- The leader is throwing conflicting signals. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on AGG.
How the comparison changed
120 daily snapshots · Jun 21 – Oct 20AGG lead: Stable — the AIQ differential has held near 10 points over 30 sessions.
- Today
- AGG +10
- 54 vs 64
- 7 sessions ago
- AGG +9
- 53 vs 62
- 30 sessions ago
- AGG +8
- 48 vs 56
- 90 sessions ago
- AGG +2
- 56 vs 58
The lead has not changed hands in this window.
AIQ Signal Divergence
Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.
2 bullish / 3 bearish / 1 neutral, conflicted
Only SHY
- 52-Week High Proximity — bullish, risk, long horizon (2.2%)
1 bullish / 3 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted
Only AGG
- Bollinger Band Squeeze — neutral, volatility, short horizon
Both carry 5 more signals that do not separate them: Death Cross Active, ATR Contraction - Coiling, 52-Week Low Proximity, Downtrend Structure Active, MACD Bullish Crossover.
AGG leads the comparison while carrying a conflicted signal state, which is one reason the stability rating is not higher.
Price vs model alignment
Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.
Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price -0.01%, AIQ 0 points).
Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price +0.03%, AIQ +1 points).
What would flip this result
A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.
- 1SHY closes the Risk Resilience gap — currently 21 points behind, the largest single contributor to AGG's edge.
- 2SHY's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it.
- 3AGG's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 1 bullish and 3 bearish rules at once.
- 4A regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.
The full evidence
Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.
Performance
SHY leads 5 of 6 windows| Metric | SHY | AGG |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week (5 sessions) | 0.1% | 0.6% |
| 1 month (20 sessions) | 0% | -1% |
| 3 months (63 sessions) | -0.6% | -2.4% |
| 6 months (126 sessions) | -1.4% | -4.2% |
| Year to date | -1.8% | -4.6% |
| 1 year (252 sessions) | -2.2% | -5.8% |
Technicals
SHY has the stronger structure| Metric | SHY | AGG |
|---|---|---|
| RSI (14) | 58.1 | 65.7 |
| ADX (14) | 26.8 | 30.9 |
| Price vs 50-day | -0.3% | -0.8% |
| Price vs 200-day | -1.1% | -3.2% |
| Volatility (1M, annualized) | 1.5% | 5.1% |
Risk
AGG is the more resilient| Metric | SHY | AGG |
|---|---|---|
| Beta | 0.03 | 0.14 |
| Sharpe ratio | -3.48 | -2.29 |
| Sortino ratio | -3.89 | -3.19 |
| Max drawdown | -2.6% | -7.2% |
| Current drawdown | -2.3% | -6% |
| Annualized volatility | 1.8% | 4.2% |
| Value at risk (95%) | -0.3% | -0.5% |
Straight answers
Short answers to the questions fund investors ask about this pair, from the figures above.
What is the difference between SHY and AGG?
AGG holds 13,395 positions to SHY's 92, and 15% of their weight is in the same securities.
How much do SHY and AGG overlap?
SHY and AGG share 15.14% of their weighted exposure across 90 common holdings. Every SHY holding is also in AGG, and 13,270 holdings are unique to AGG. Owning both is genuinely additive — most of the capital sits in different securities.
Which ETF is more diversified, SHY or AGG?
AGG holds more positions: 13,395 versus 92 for SHY.
Which has the lower expense ratio?
AGG has the lower expense ratio, 0.03% a year against 0.15% for SHY.
Which ETF has the higher distribution yield?
AGG, with a trailing 12-month distribution yield of 4.16% against 3.62% for SHY.
Which ETF has been more volatile?
AGG has been more volatile over the past year, at 4.2% annualized against 1.8% for SHY.
Which ETF has had the smaller drawdown?
SHY fell less from peak to trough over the past five years: -5.4% against -17.3% for AGG.
Compare SHY and AGG with others
Continue your research
This page answers which of the two. These answer the questions on either side of it.
How this comparison is scored
The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.
The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.
How to use side-by-side comparison →This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.