IVV vs SPY ETFToday’s post compares the two hugely popular ETFs: SPY (SPDR S&P 500 ETF) and IVV (iShares Core S&P 500 ETF).  These funds are 2 of the largest in existence based on market cap and volume… and for good reason… they are all around excellent funds.

IVV ETF tracks the performance of the S&P 500 as its underlying index. Approximately 90% of the fund’s assets are invested in securities and depositary receipts of the underlying index.

The SPY fund is very similar in that it is built to provide results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the S&P 500 index. The fund holds a portfolio of stocks that are included in the index, with the weight of each stock corresponding to the weight of the stock in the index.

The funds have a number of similarities, as well as a few differences.  In this post I attempt to help explain some of these similarities and differences.

Fund Similarities

  • Both funds are designed to track the S&P 500 index. Because of this, you’ll find the individual holdings that comprise this ETF are nearly identical.  You’ll also find the market return for each of these funds to be almost identical.
  • They are both very cheap in terms of fees, and are very liquid with a large amount of trading volume.  IVV does have a slightly less net expense ratio.
  • Both funds are passively managed and with a domestic geography objective.

Fund Differences

  • The funds have different legal structures.  IVV is an open-end investment company, SPY is a unit investment trust
  • SPY is issued by State Street Global Advisors while IVV is issued by BlackRock
  • SPY’s inception date was January 22, 1993, while IVV’s was May 14, 2000… making SPY more than 7 years older
  • IVV currently has a 5 star rating from Morningstar, while SPY is 4 stars
  • SPY has more net assets at $270.7 B vs IVV’s $178.0B at the time of publishing
  • SPY has a lower annual turnover ratio of 2.00% compared to IVV at 5.00%

Top Holdings In Each ETF

as of July 2, 2019

IVV (506 Basket Holdings)

MSFT (Microsoft Corp) 4.22%
AAPL (Apple Inc) 3.57%
AMZN (Amazon.com Inc) 3.22%
FB (Facebook Inc) 1.88%
BRK/B (Berkshire Hathaway Inc) 1.69%
JPM (JP Morgan Chase & Co) 1.50%
JNJ (Johnson & Johnson) 1.50%
GOOG (Alphabet Inc) 1.37%
GOOGL (Alphabet Inc) 1.34%
XOM (Exxon Mobil Corp) 1.31%

SPY (506 Basket Holdings)

MSFT (Microsoft Corp) 4.22%
AAPL (Apple Inc) 3.58%
AMZN (Amazon.com Inc) 3.23%
FB (Facebook Inc) 1.88%
BRK/B (Berkshire Hathaway Inc) 1.69%
JPM (JP Morgan Chase & Co) 1.50%
JNJ (Johnson & Johnson) 1.50%
GOOG (Alphabet Inc) 1.37%
GOOGL (Alphabet Inc) 1.34%
XOM (Exxon Mobil Corp) 1.32%

Compare IVV and SPY Side By Side

ETF Jeff's Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts

As you can see, both of these funds are very similar.  SPY benefits from being an older fund that now has around 30% more market cap than IVV, as well as considerably more trading volume.  IVV fees are a bit more favorable, but at the end of the day both of these fees are cheap in regard to expenses. My opinion is that you can’t go wrong with either one of these funds.  Both, in my opinion, are excellent investments and should be a part of everyone’s retirement savings strategy.