The Best S&P 500 ETF to Buy: Vanguard S&P 500 ETF vs. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF

1 week ago 8

Neha Chamaria, The Motley Fool

Sun, December 21, 2025 astatine 8:50 AM CST 6 min read

IVV and VOO way the aforesaid S&P 500 scale with identical expenses and near-identical assemblage and holding breakdowns.
Both ETFs person akin show and hazard implicit the past twelvemonth and 5 years, with astir identical drawdowns and full returns.
VOO is overmuch larger by assets nether management, but some funds connection heavy liquidity and negligible trading friction.
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The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT:IVV) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT:VOO) are astir indistinguishable successful presumption of cost, performance, and portfolio composition. VOO, however, stands retired for its sheer scale, with importantly greater assets nether management.

Both IVV and VOO replicate the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC)index, aiming to seizure the show of the 500 largest publically traded companies successful the U.S. Below, we comparison the 2 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) successful presumption of cost, returns, risk, and portfolio constitution to assistance investors place wherever meaningful differences look and marque informed investing decisions.

Metric

IVV

VOO

Issuer	iShares	Vanguard
Expense ratio	0.03%	0.03%
1-yr full instrumentality (as of Dec. 19, 2025)	16.5%	18%
Dividend yield	1.04%	1.1%
Beta	1.00	1.00
AUM	$680.6 billion	$1.5 trillion

Beta measures terms volatility comparative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year play returns. The 1-yr instrumentality represents full instrumentality implicit the trailing 12 months.

There is nary outgo vantage betwixt the two: some IVV and VOO complaint a debased 0.03% yearly disbursal and present an identical dividend output of astir 1%, truthful investors whitethorn basal their determination connected different factors.

Metric

IVV

VOO

Max drawdown (5 y)	-24.53%	-24.52%
Growth of $1,000 implicit 5 years	$1,845	$1,842

Data arsenic of Dec. 19, 2025.

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF holds 505 stocks and is designed to reflector the S&P 500 index, with a existent assemblage premix led by exertion astatine 34.6%, followed by financials, comsumer discretionary, and connection services. As of the past reported day of Nov. 30, VOO's largest positions are Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) astatine 7.38%, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) astatine 7.07%, and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) astatine 6.25%. The money has a lengthy way record, spanning 15.3 years, and nary notable quirks oregon restrictions that differentiate it from the underlying index.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF is structured astir identically, with 503 holdings and a akin assemblage tilt -- exertion astatine 34.02%, financials astatine 13.52%, and user discretionary astatine 10.6%. Its apical holdings are Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft, each representing a akin stock of assets arsenic successful VOO. Both funds are accepted S&P 500 scale trackers with nary unsocial overlays oregon antithetic features.