iShares S&P 500 ETF (IVV) — Review & Analysis

IVV is Australia's third-largest ETF, with $13.5 billion in assets as at May 2026 — about 3.8% of the entire $358 billion Australian ETF market. It's the most popular pure US equity ETF available to Australians, larger than VTS ($6.7B) and the second-largest international ETF after VGS ($16.4B) as at May 2026. iShares launched the original US-domiciled IVV on the ASX in October 2007 and re-launched it as an AUD-quoted Australian-domiciled fund in late 2018. It tracks the S&P 500 Index, holding the 500 largest US companies by market capitalisation. The management fee is just 0.04% per annum — the second-cheapest equity ETF on the ASX, costing just $4 per year per $10,000 invested. IVV crossed +100% total return over 5 years in May 2026 — the first time the fund has crossed that milestone.

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

The S&P 500 is heavily concentrated at the top. As at May 2026, the top 10 holdings make up approximately 35% of the index — Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet (A and C share classes), Berkshire Hathaway, Eli Lilly and Broadcom. By sector, IVV is approximately 31% information technology, 13% financials, 12% healthcare and 10% consumer discretionary, with the remainder spread across communications, industrials, energy, staples, utilities, real estate and materials. IVV's 5-year return of +101.8% beats every other broad equity ETF on the ASX over the same window — including VAS (+39.9%), VGS (+84.2%) and even QUAL (+84.5%). The US tech mega-cap rally has been the single dominant return story of the past decade.

IVV pays distributions quarterly (late March, June, September and December) at a modest ~1.2% gross yield. As at May 2026, the trailing 12-month cash distribution yield is around 1.2%, with no franking credits — the underlying holdings are US-domiciled. IVV is the most widely-held US equity ETF in Australian SMSFs. Be aware that IVV is currency-unhedged: your AUD return = US return + AUD/USD move. When the AUD strengthens against the USD, you lose. There is an AUD-hedged S&P 500 ETF from iShares on the ASX, IHVV.

IVV is the most cost-effective way to own the S&P 500 from Australia. If you specifically want "the US market" rather than "the global market" — and you're happy with a single-country concentration in the world's largest economy — IVV at 0.04% MER is hard to beat. Pair it with VAS for a simple 2-ETF portfolio. A $10,000 investment in the IVV Index 5 years ago (with distributions reinvested) would be worth roughly $20,200 as at May 2026 — an annualised return of about 15.1% per year. For our take on which is best, see IVV vs VGS vs VTS — which international ETF should you buy.