Designed to provide broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on May 15, 2000.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $764.08 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Why Large Cap Blend
Large cap companies typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Considered a more stable option, large cap companies boast more predictable cash flows and are less volatile than their mid and small cap counterparts.
Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.
Costs
Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.03%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.15%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector -- about 33.7% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 7.48% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT).
The top 10 holdings account for about 39.47% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
IVV seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 Index before fees and expenses. The S&P 500 Index measures the performance of the large-capitalization sector of the U.S. equity market.
The ETF return is roughly 1.77% so far this year and it's up approximately 19.07% in the last one year (as of 01/12/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $498.80 and $697.08.
The ETF has a beta of 1.00 and standard deviation of 14.74% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 507 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, IVV is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) track the same index. While SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $715.34 billion in assets, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has $855.09 billion. SPY has an expense ratio of 0.09% and VOO charges 0.03%.
Bottom-Line
Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.
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iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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