AGG Dividend: Next Ex-Date, History & Total Return

The iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) seeks to track the investment results of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, which measures the performance of the total U.S. investment-grade bond market. The index includes investment-grade U.S. Treasury bonds, government-related bonds, corporate bonds, mortgage-backed pass-through securities (MBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities (ABS) that are publicly offered for sale in the U.S.¹

BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) uses an indexing approach. AGG will invest at least 80% of its assets in the index's component securities and TBAs with substantially identical economic characteristics, and at least 90% in fixed income securities of the types included in the index that BFA believes will help it track the index.¹

Most transactions in fixed-rate MBS occur through to-be-announced (TBA) transactions: standardized contracts for future delivery in which the exact mortgage pools are not specified until a few days before settlement. AGG may enter into such contracts regularly. Pending settlement, it will invest in high-quality, liquid short-term instruments, including shares of money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates.¹

AGG pays monthly, per its fact sheet. On the iShares schedule, it is one of the monthly Bond and Equity funds, which intend to go ex-dividend on the first business day of each month, except for January, which is expected to be recognized in mid-December.^2,3

Securities in the index must have $300 million or more of outstanding face value and at least one year remaining to maturity, except for amortizing securities such as ABS and MBS, which have lower minimum thresholds as defined by Bloomberg. They must also be denominated in U.S. dollars and be fixed-rate, non-convertible and taxable. Bloomberg, which is independent of the fund and BFA, determines investment-grade status and the composition and weightings of the index.¹

Certain types of securities are excluded, such as state and local government series bonds, structured notes with embedded swaps or other special features, private placements, floating-rate securities and Eurobonds. The index is market capitalization-weighted, and its securities are updated on the last business day of each month.¹

BFA manages AGG with representative sampling: it invests in a sample of securities or other instruments that collectively has an investment profile similar to the index. The selected instruments are expected to have, in the aggregate, characteristics similar to the index, such as return variability, duration (an instrument's price sensitivity to a change in interest rates), maturity or credit ratings and yield. The fund may or may not hold all of the index's components.¹

Dividend Stacker's record of AGG's past payments begins with an ex-date in November 2003, and each completed year from 2004 through 2025 shows 12 distributions. Per-share amounts are adjusted for any share splits or reverse splits.⁴

The annual total was $3.54 per share in 2004 and reached $4.91 in 2007. It slipped 4.7% in 2008 and fell 14.3% in 2009. By 2013 it was $2.47, down 24.4% from 2012.⁴

After falling 20.2% to $2.02 in 2021, the total rose 14.8% in 2022 to $2.32, 34.0% in 2023 to $3.11, 16.8% in 2024 to $3.63 and 7.1% in 2025 to $3.89. 2025 was the fourth consecutive completed year with a higher annual total.⁴

AGG's index includes only fixed-rate securities, and the prospectus says an increase in interest rates generally will cause the value of fixed-income securities to decline. Securities with longer maturities generally are more sensitive to rate changes. During periods of very low or negative rates, AGG may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends.¹

AGG's corporate, government-related and securitized bonds carry credit risk: an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/or interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. AGG may be adversely affected if an investment it holds is downgraded or defaults.¹

The prospectus names U.S. Treasury obligations risk among AGG's principal risks. Changes in the U.S. government's financial condition or credit rating may cause the value of Treasury obligations to decline, and their market value is not guaranteed and may fluctuate.¹

MBS are subject to interest rate, prepayment and extension risk. When rates fall, issuers of certain debt obligations may repay principal early, and AGG may have to reinvest in instruments with lower yields or a higher risk of default. When rates rise, certain debt obligations may be paid off substantially more slowly than anticipated, and their value may fall sharply. The default or bankruptcy of a counterparty to a TBA transaction would expose AGG to possible losses.¹

AGG's income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. The fund may be required to invest in lower-yielding bonds when a bond it holds matures, is near maturity, is called or is prepaid, when bonds in the index are substituted, or when the fund otherwise needs to purchase additional bonds.¹