What Is IVV? How to Invest in the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV)

TradingKey - The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) is a US-listed index fund from BlackRock (BLK) through their iShares brand and is designed to track the S&P 500 Index. By using IVV, investors can gain exposure to approximately 500 of the largest publicly-traded companies in the United States across all eleven sectors of the economy, and has a very low expense ratio of only 0.03%. IVV has approximately 700 billion dollars in assets under management (which makes it one of the largest funds in the category), making it one of the most popular ways for an investor to have low-cost and diversified access to the US equity market.

IVV aims to mirror the S&P 500 index as accurately as possible. The S&P 500 index is the benchmark for approximately 80% of U.S. equity market capitalization and includes companies that meet specific size, liquidity, and profitability requirements. 

Adding and removing companies to the index ensures that its quality continues to be high by tracking changes in their fundamentals. 

Launched by iShares (a division of BlackRock) in May 2000, IVV is an excellent option for those investors looking for a single investment vehicle representing the U.S. economy instead of investing directly in individual stocks at concentrated risk levels. 

While all equity investments are exposed to some level of risk, the large-cap companies listed on the S&P 500 index have historically been more stable and resilient than those smaller ones, and typically follow the market cycle in the short term & trend up over the long term.

IVV can be considered a fundamental holding for many investors when they want to get a broad-based investment in U.S. large-cap equities with just one trade. 

Typically, along with bond funds, international equity funds, and cash, investors will build a balanced asset allocation using IVV as one of their building blocks. 

Having been created by BlackRock (the largest investment management company in the world and manager of the whole iShares line-up as well as the LifePath target date funds), IVV follows the same institutional quality practices as BlackRock, such as the securities lending program. 

During some periods, the collateral efficiency of IVV outperformed similar funds, such as VOO, allowing long-term holders to receive some level of fee offset and to also improve their net return. 

With an extremely low expense ratio, IVV offers U.S. retirement accounts (like 401(k), IRA, and Roth IRA) tremendous cost savings, which is critical for the long-term compounding of investments.

The process of purchasing shares in IVV is quite simple. 

To buy shares, all that needs to be done is create or log into your brokerage account.

Search for the ticker IVV or for the full name of the ETF (Exchange Traded Fund).

Determine how many shares you would like to purchase based on your goals and allocation for U.S. large-cap equity.

and enter the order type you prefer (i.e., market order [to purchase at the current market price] or limit order [to set a maximum price]), and submit your order. 

Once the order has been submitted, check your portfolio to see if it was completed as intended and make any necessary adjustments to your overall investment plan accordingly.

As of December 2025, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) contained 508 stocks due to the presence of multiple share classes for some index members, such as Alphabet (GOOGL and GOOG). 

Almost 35% of the fund's assets are allocated to Information Technology, while Financials comprise a little more than 13%, and both Consumer Discretionary and Healthcare account for over 10% each. 

The distribution of these sectors mirrors how the U.S. economy is structured and provides additional diversification that minimizes reliance on any one company. If you would like more concentrated exposure than what the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF offers, you may wish to consider Sector ETFs instead.

The table below lists the top 10 holdings of the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF and their corresponding sectors.

• Market Risk

IVV does not drastically hinder investor losses due to its close correlation with the movement of large-cap U.S. companies—the performance of the broader U.S. Stock Markets typically dictates how well IVV performs. 

Therefore, as markets are declining due to economic recession, rising interest rates, economic uncertainty caused by Geopolitical issues, or systemic abrupt changes in the overall economy, IVV will most likely not be exempt from market loss.

• Volatility Risk

Although IVV offers a broad level of diversity, it does not completely shield investors from exposure to overall market risk.

IVV operates in a typical equity-based ETF structure, with its daily Net Asset Value fluctuations determined by daily price movements within the marketplace. Historically speaking, while IVV has provided stable long-term returns, the ETF has had large dips in price during shorter-term correction periods in the market. In the midst of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, the S&P 500 Index fell over 50 percent from its highest point to its lowest, and accordingly, IVV experienced a sharp drop as well.

• Sector Concentration Risk

The S&P 500 Index is made up of 500 individual companies, but those companies aren't evenly distributed across all different industry sectors. As of the first quarter of 2026, the Technology Sector constitutes over 40 percent of the Total Market Capitalization of the S&P 500 Index and includes leading companies like Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), and Alphabet. 

Therefore, any large correction within the Technology Sector could likely have an outsized effect on IVV relative to other sectors in the S&P 500 Index.

IVV pays the dividend quarterly in March, June, September & December. The dividend yield for the trailing 12 months ended in late 2025 was 1.16%, which is a low but acceptable yield. This yield does not attract most investors to the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF. Investors typically invest in this fund for long-term capital appreciation potential; other dedicated dividend ETFs often provide higher yields of 2% or greater.

Investors looking to match the market, rather than trying to exceed it, will find IVV fits their needs. 

The performance of this fund will be correlated with both the rise and fall of the S&P 500 Index. Therefore, it is designed to neither lead nor significantly lag behind the S&P 500 over time, making it more suited for people who maintain a buy-and-hold mentality when building wealth over a period of years, rather than as traders or short-term investors. 

If you believe that the U.S. economy is likely to continue expanding into the future and that you can remain patient during periods of volatility, then IVV would be an excellent choice for you. Historically, the average annual return of the S&P 500 from 1973 to 2023 has been greater than 8%, demonstrating why many long-term investors prefer broad-market investments in their portfolios.

Investors must understand how volatile stock market investments can be. The S&P 500 lost 22% in value in 2022, then gained 26% in value in 2023, and increased another 23% in 2024, with the same volatility experienced by the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF. 

By staying invested long enough for years of strong returns to outweigh years of weak returns, investors will achieve the best results historically. 

Investors looking for an easy to manage portfolio will prefer iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, as they will be less likely to see their portfolio derailed by any one individual stock company, as well as seeing less desirable S&P 500 companies reassigned as they are replaced in the index over time and reestablished as qualified selection companies, giving them access to investment portfolios that consist of solely attractive companies.

The performance of IVV includes the effect of price appreciation plus dividends, and illustrates the compounding of these returns with an average annual total return of 17.57% over 1 year, 24.90% over 3 years, 16.43% over 5 years, 15.26% over 10 years, and 8.14% since inception (2000). 

Historically, the total return performance of IVV is very similar to that of the S&P 500, with no difference of more than five basis points. If an investor had chosen not to reinvest dividends during those respective periods, their total return performance would have been lower.

As part of its business model, iShares offers diversified, low-cost access to large-cap companies in the U.S. Using BlackRock’s scale and expertise in operations, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) is a perfect way for long-term investors to invest in the U.S. economy.

Long-term investors willing to endure all market corrections will find an appealing blend of diversified exposure to blue-chip stocks, strict adherence to an index, and recent strong performance patterns make IVV a natural addition to their investment portfolios.