iShares Global 100 ETF (IOO) — Review & Analysis

IOO is one of the oldest international equity ETFs on the ASX, with $5.8 billion in assets as at May 2026 — about 1.6% of the entire $358 billion Australian ETF market. iShares launched IOO in October 2007 — making it nearly two decades old. The fund tracks the S&P Global 100 Index, holding just 100 of the world's largest transnational companies — the global mega-cap blue chips. The management fee is 0.40% per annum — significantly higher than VGS (0.18%) and BGBL (0.08%), but justified by the more concentrated, equal-weighted approach.

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

IOO is significantly more concentrated than the broader global ETFs. As at May 2026, the 100 holdings are heavily weighted to mega-caps — Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Tesla, Berkshire Hathaway, Eli Lilly, Broadcom, Visa, Mastercard, JPMorgan, Procter & Gamble and similar truly-global giants. By construction, IOO excludes mid- and small-cap stocks entirely — the methodology is "biggest 100 multinational corporations" not "broad market exposure". Over the 5 years to May 2026, IOO returned an impressive +127.6% total return — well ahead of VGS (+84.2%) and beating even IVV (+101.8%) because the global mega-caps outperformed the broader market.

IOO pays distributions semi-annually (late June and late December) at a modest yield. As at May 2026, the trailing 12-month cash distribution yield runs around 1.5-2.0% gross. There are no franking credits. IOO is currency-unhedged. The fund's strong 5-year performance is partly a survivorship bias — the 100 largest global companies today are by definition the businesses that have compounded successfully through the past decade, and there's no guarantee they'll continue to dominate.

IOO is a defensible alternative to broad-market global ETFs if you specifically want concentrated mega-cap exposure. At 0.40% MER it's not cheap, and the 100-stock concentration is real — but the strategy has delivered for over a decade. For purely cost-minimising investors, VGS or BGBL at a fraction of the fee are more rational picks. A $10,000 investment in IOO at its October 2007 launch (with all distributions reinvested) would be worth roughly $40,000 as at May 2026 — an annualised return of about 7.9% per year over the 18.5-year period.