Vanguard and iShares S&P 500 ETFs Compared: Is There Really a Difference?

Brendan Coffey, The Motley Fool

Wed, June 10, 2026 astatine 10:55 AM CDT 5 min read

S&P 500 funds are apt a halfway holding for immoderate investor. There are plentifulness of options retired determination for gaining vulnerability to the index. We look astatine 2 of the largest, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT:VOO) and iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT:IVV). These 2 ETFs are astir identical successful outgo and performance, though VOO commands a importantly larger plus basal portion IVV offers a longer way record.

Investors seeking a low-cost instauration for a semipermanent portfolio often constrictive their hunt to these 2 titans. Both VOO and the iShares money purpose to reflector the show of the S&P 500 index, providing diversified vulnerability to the 500 largest American corporations. Because they way the aforesaid underlying index, they service arsenic interchangeable gathering blocks for growth-oriented investors.

Snapshot (cost & size)

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

Efficiency is simply a hallmark of some products, arsenic they stock a razor-thin disbursal ratio of 0.03%. This means investors wage conscionable $0.30 per $1,000 invested annually. Both ETFs besides supply a trailing-12-month organisation output of much than 1%, ensuring that costs and income levels stay virtually identical for semipermanent investors.

Performance & hazard examination

What's wrong

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF  holds 505 positions and is concentrated successful sectors similar exertion astatine astir 36%, fiscal services astatine adjacent to 12%, and connection services astatine a small implicit 11%. Its largest positions see Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) astatine 7.84%, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at 6.44%, and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) astatine 4.89%. This money launched successful 2010 and has paid astir $7.13 per stock implicit the trailing 12 months. Because it is simply a market-cap weighted fund, its show is mostly driven by the monolithic exertion companies that predominate the modern American economy.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF holds 504 positions and was launched successful 2000. It mirrors its adjacent with dense vulnerability to exertion astatine conscionable implicit 39%, fiscal services astatine a smidgen greater than 11%, and connection services astatine adjacent to 11%. Top holdings for the iShares money see Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) astatine 7.88%, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) astatine 7.04%, and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) at 5.14%. The money has a trailing-12-month dividend of $8.06 per share. Both products supply investors with a highly liquid and businesslike mode to seizure the wide returns of the home equity market.