iShares US Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF

What this fund is

iShares US Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) from iShares, traded under the ticker IUAG (ISIN IE00B44CGS96). It lets you buy a basket of holdings in a single trade, spreading your money across them rather than one company. In plain terms it is about lending to governments and companies in return for regular interest, which tends to be steadier than shares but grows more slowly, spread across its target market. Its largest holdings include BLK ICS USD LEAF AGENCY DIST, FNMA 30YR UMBS and FNMA 30YR UMBS. It holds around 10054 positions (the ten largest ≈ 10.4%), spreading risk so no single holding decides your outcome.

Its biggest country exposures are ~80.2% United States, ~4.6% Ireland and ~1.1% Supranational. By industry it concentrates most in ~51% Government and ~23.2% Securitized. Funds like this are often used as the steadier, lower-swing part of a portfolio — the ballast that cushions the ups and downs of shares. Its ongoing charge (TER) is 0.25% a year — about €25 a year on a €10,000 holding, taken automatically from the fund. Income such as dividends is paid out to you as cash (a distributing share class), and over the last year it paid out roughly 3.9% (its trailing yield).

It holds the underlying investments directly (physical replication); it is domiciled in Ireland and UCITS-regulated, a European standard built to protect everyday investors and trades in USD. Its price has swung about 5.6% over the past year — a gauge of how much the value moves, not a judgement of quality. It launched in 2011. As with any investment, its value can go down as well as up, and past performance is not a guide to future results. (Fund data sourced from iShares.)