Investors holding iShares Core S&P 500 AUD ETF (ASX: IVV) units are benefiting from strong momentum in the US stock market in 2025.
The IVV exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Index (SP: INX) before fees.
It's an easy way of gaining exposure to the roaring US share market without having to trade on an overseas exchange.
Geographical diversification is valuable in any investor's portfolio to help us capture the best returns and reduce our overall risk.
While the ASX follows the US closely in terms of whether it goes up or down each day, the pace of that movement often varies.
For example, in the year to date, the S&P 500 is up 14% while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 4.2%.
Another benefit of the IVV ETF is that it provides exposure to some of the world's largest and most profitable companies.
The exchange-traded fund's top 10 holdings are Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA), Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO), Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ: GOOG), Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META), Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), and Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B
(NYSE: BRK.B).
Today, the IVV ETF is trading on the ASX for $69.14 per unit, up 1.04%.
Let's find out what $10,000 invested a year ago is worth today.
What is a $10,000 investment in IVV ETF now worth?
On 25 November 2024, the IVV ETF closed at $61.25 apiece.
If you had invested $10,000 in IVV then, it would have bought you 163 units (for $9,983.75).
There's been a capital gain of $7.89 per unit since then, which equates to $1,286.07 of capital growth.
Therefore, your portfolio is now worth $11,269.82.
What about dividends?
IVV pays four distributions (dividends) per year.
The ETF paid investors $2.134185 per unit in December 2024, $1.764574 per unit in March this year, $1.866967 per unit in June, and $1.994748 in September.
This means you would have received just over $7.76 per unit of income over the past 12 months, or $1,264.88 in total.
Total returns…
Your capital gain of $1,286.07 plus your income of $1,264.88 gives you a total return of $2,550.95.
Now remember, you invested $9,983.75 buying your 163 units on 25 November 2024.
This means you have received a total return, in percentage terms, of 25.55%. Wow!
And that happened during a year of turmoil, too. Remember the April rout caused by new US tariffs?
A distant memory now.
The IVV ETF has more than $705 billion in funds under management and charges a 0.03% annual fee.
