iShares S&P 500 (AUD Hedged) ETF (IHVV) — Review & Analysis

IHVV is the AUD-hedged twin of IVV, with $4.0 billion in assets as at May 2026 — making it Australia's largest currency-hedged US equity ETF. iShares launched IHVV in December 2014 — just over a month after Vanguard launched VGS and VGAD. IHVV holds the same S&P 500 portfolio as IVV — the 500 largest US companies — with the AUD/USD currency exposure systematically hedged out. The management fee is 0.10% per annum — more expensive than unhedged IVV (0.04%) but the gap covers the cost of running the currency hedge.

To compare IHVV side-by-side with every other ETF on the ASX, see the full ETF directory.

The underlying equity portfolio is identical to IVV — Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet (A and C share classes), Berkshire Hathaway, Eli Lilly and Broadcom in the top 10, together making up roughly 35% of the index. By sector, IHVV is approximately 31% information technology, 13% financials, 12% healthcare, 10% consumer discretionary as at May 2026. The only difference from IVV is the AUD currency hedge — iShares sells USD forwards monthly to neutralise the currency exposure. Over the 12 months to May 2026, the AUD strengthened against the USD, and IHVV materially outperformed IVV — IHVV returned +27.9% vs IVV's +16.2%. Over 5 years, IHVV's +60.0% trails IVV's +101.8% because the AUD weakened over the full window.

IHVV pays distributions quarterly (late March, June, September and December) at a similar yield to IVV — around 1.2-1.5% gross as at May 2026, with no franking credits. The currency hedging creates an additional source of return variation: when AUD interest rates exceed US rates (as at May 2026), the hedge generates a small positive carry. When US rates exceed AUD rates (the 2022-2024 environment), the hedge cost reduces the AUD return relative to IVV's USD return. With Vanguard's new V5AH (hedged S&P 500 at 0.09% MER) launched in March 2026, IHVV faces direct fee competition for the first time.

IHVV is the right choice when you want US equity returns without the currency variable. Retirees and near-retirees with defined withdrawal timelines often prefer it over unhedged IVV. Long-term accumulators with 20+ year horizons typically pick IVV — the currency variable washes out over very long periods and the lower fee compounds. A $10,000 investment in IHVV at its December 2014 launch (with all distributions reinvested) would be worth roughly $30,000 as at May 2026 — an annualised return of about 10.4% per year over the 11.5-year period. For more on the hedging decision, see Hedged vs unhedged ETFs — the best option in every category.