Stockchase Opinions

Stan Wong iShares Aggregate Bond ETF AGG-N BUY Oct 10, 2024

Seeing improvement in the bond space, as interest rates are forecast to move a bit lower. Bonds have definitely improved. This ETF is up 9.1% over the last 12 months. It's been a long time since we've seen high single-digit returns, given that rates were moving higher.

XAGH owns the entire US bond market, including corporates and governments, with a Canadian hedge. Do you need that hedge? In other words, do you think the CAD will move up toward the USD? If you think the USD will move higher or remain steady, then might as well own the US version, which is AGG -- it's probably cheaper, and you'll get the lift of the USD moving higher.

$99.345

Stock price when the opinion was issued

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BUY
ETF that includes government, agencies and corporate bonds. You have to be aware that you are taking some currency exposure. Low cost efficient way to gain exposure.
DON'T BUY
Aggregate Bond ETF. Holds just about every bond in the US and very heavily into US treasuries. He wouldn’t be interested in this one.
TOP PICK

It's a way of getting into the U.S. bond market at a very low cost.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Aug 15/18, Up 8%) A Canadian version of this would be ZAG. The fees are relatively low. A massive institutional favourite with a mix including longer term bonds.

BUY

Billy Kawasaki’s Insights - Picks from 5i Research. With the Fed stating that low interest rates are here for a while, this stock should perform fine. It has 20% exposure to long maturities which could pose some risk. One of the best in its category. Unlock Premium - Try 5i Free

DON'T BUY
In rising interest rate environment, a bond portfolio is going to be somewhat troubled. You have to actively trade it. You need to ask yourself how much fixed income exposure do you want and is it priced right? If rates go incredibly high, that's going to be detrimental to this type of holding. If you want bonds, you should be looking at 1-2 year vehicles. Look at some fixed income proxies that can participate in rising rates.
DON'T BUY
A good time to sell AGG and buy the US index? It may be a little late because of the movement by the CAD. AGG is good because it holds both short- and long-term bonds, but the latter has been clobbered. Focus on duration. Look at Purpose's and BMO's US bonds in USD, which are more short term than AGG.
BUY

Bonds and fixed income had a tough time the last couple of years. Now that we see interest rates falling (despite a bit of an uptick last 2 weeks), he does like bonds. Investment-grade government and corporate bonds.  

At 3 bps, AGG is significantly cheaper than the Canadian version, XAGH, at 20 bps. So consider buying this one, if you don't mind the USD exposure.