IVV vs SPY: The S&P 500 Duel

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The S&P 500 is a well-trodden alley in the market’s back streets, where every corner hides a copycat. Two shadows loom there: IVV and SPY. Both claim to mirror the same index, but the devil’s in the details-like a thief who forgets to wipe the fingerprints.

Snapshot (cost & size)

Metric IVV SPY
Issuer iShares SPDR
Expense ratio 0.03% 0.09%
1-yr return (as of Nov. 12, 2025) 14.1% 14.1%
Dividend yield 1.16% 1.09%
AUM $701.37 billion $672.73 billion
Beta (5Y monthly) 1.00 1.00

IVV cuts its fees to a sliver-0.03% versus SPY’s 0.09%. It’s the difference between a clean knife and a rusted blade. Both yield roughly the same dividends, but the cost is a slow bleed over time. For the long-haul investor, it’s a choice between a bullet and a needle.

Performance & risk comparison

Metric IVV SPY
Max drawdown (5 y) 24.5% 24.5%
Growth of $1,000 over 5 years $1,935 $1,934

What’s inside

SPY holds 503 stocks, a mirror to the S&P 500’s soul. Its top dogs-Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft-are the big three, each gnawing at less than 8% of the pie. Launched in 1993, it’s the old man in the room, grizzled and unshaken. IVV, born in 2000, copies the same recipe but with a fresher coat of paint. Both serve the same dish: no leverage, no gimmicks-just pure S&P 500 exposure. The kitchen’s the same, but the waiter’s tip jar is lighter.

For the rookie, the fees won’t matter. But for the lifer, they’re a silent tax on every dollar. IVV’s dividend yield is a hair higher-enough to make a dent in retirement plans, if you let it.

Foolish take

These twins are more alike than most. They sleep in the same bed, wake up with the same habits. But the fee is the crack in the mirror. Over decades, IVV’s 0.06% edge might buy a few more lattes-or a second home. The game isn’t rigged, but the odds favor the patient. Pick your poison, but know the price.

Glossary

ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund): A pack of wolves in a stock suit, howling at the moon of diversification.
Expense ratio: The toll booth on the road to wealth, measured in cents per dollar.
Dividend yield: A paycheck from the past, wrapped in the present, and gambled on the future.
Beta: The market’s heartbeat, measured in fits and starts.
AUM (Assets Under Management): The weight of money, measured in billions and burdens.
Max drawdown: The hole you dig with your own hands, before the market fills it again.
Sector allocation: The map to buried treasure, if you know where to dig.
Large-cap: The titans of the boardroom, dressed in $100 suits and $100 billion.
Liquidity: The art of vanishing, or the promise of always being there.
Track record: The ghost of past returns, haunting the present.
Leverage: A gamble with borrowed dice, rolled on borrowed time.

Play your hand. The market doesn’t care if you’re right-only if you’re still at the table. 🃏

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2025-11-12 23:33