What was the first S&P index fund?
Index investing pioneer Vanguard's S&P 500 Index Fund was the first index mutual fund for individual investors. The Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX) is one of the largest index funds, with total assets of $823.10 billion as of May 31, 2023.
Vanguard founder Jack Bogle had launched the first index fund, the Vanguard 500 Index Fund, 17 years before, in 1976.
State Street Global Advisors introduced the Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipt, better known by its arachnoid acronym, SPDR ("spider"), and traded under the symbol SPY, in 1993. It is the oldest ETF out there and remains one of the largest by any measure.
Bogle founded The Vanguard Group in 1974; as of 2009 it was the largest mutual fund company in the United States. Bogle started the First Index Investment Trust on December 31, 1975. At the time, it was heavily derided by competitors as being "un-American" and the fund itself was seen as "Bogle's folly".
Key Takeaways. The first modern mutual fund was launched in the U.S. in 1924. The oldest mutual fund still in existence is MFS' Massachusetts Investors Trust (MITTX), also established in 1924.
In 1980, had you invested a mere $1,000 in what went on to become the top-performing stock of S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.56%), then you would be sitting on a cool $1.2 million today. That equates to a total return of 120,936%.
Stock market returns between 1980 and 2023
If you invested $100 in the S&P 500 at the beginning of 1980, you would have about $12,097.47 at the end of 2023, assuming you reinvested all dividends. This is a return on investment of 11,997.47%, or 11.61% per year.
SPY, VOO and IVV are among the most popular S&P 500 ETFs. These three S&P 500 ETFs are quite similar, but may sometimes diverge in terms of costs or daily returns.
The SPDR® S&P 500® ETF (SPY), a basket of securities tracking the performance of the S&P 500® Index, made its debut in 1993 as the first US-listed ETF.
The first gold ETF launched was Gold Bullion Securities, which listed 28 March 2003 on the Australian Securities Exchange, by ETF Securities and its major shareholder, Graham Tuckwell.
Which index fund does Warren Buffett own?
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns only two index funds. The conglomerate holds positions in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO -0.84%). These two index funds share a couple of things in common. First, they're both exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that can be bought and sold like stocks.
John Bogle, Vanguard's founder, began the first index fund, which tracked the S&P 500 in 1975. Index funds with low fees are appropriate investments for the majority of investors. Index funds allow investors to gain exposure to the market in a single, simple, and easy-to-trade investment vehicle.
Founded in 1929, Wellington™ Fund is Vanguard's oldest mutual fund and the nation's oldest balanced fund. It offers exposure to stocks (about two-thirds of the portfolio) and bonds (one-third of the portfolio).
| Symbol Symbol | ETF Name ETF Name | % In Top 10 % In Top 10 |
|---|---|---|
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust Series I | 47.44% |
| VUG | Vanguard Growth ETF | 56.96% |
| IWF | iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF | 53.62% |
| VGT | Vanguard Information Technology ETF | 60.10% |
The first ETF was launched in Canada in 1990, which paved the way for the introduction of the first U.S. ETF, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, in 1993. Designed to offer investors the diversification of a mutual fund with the flexibility of stock trading, ETFs took time before they started to grow rapidly in popularity.
The first stock index was created in 1884 by publicist Charles Dow as an indicator for investors of how the stock market was performing. Five years later, Dow established the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and in 1923 Standard & Poor's instituted their first index, the S&P 90 Index.
According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in February 2014 would be worth $5,971.20, or a gain of 497.12%, as of February 5, 2024, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases. Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 178.17% and gold's return of 55.50% over the same time frame.
The S&P 500 is all US-domiciled companies that over the last ~40 years have accounted for ~50% of all global stocks. By just owning the S&P 500 you miss out on almost half of the global opportunity set which is another ~10,000 public companies.
Assuming an average annual return rate of about 10% (a typical historical average), a $10,000 investment in the S&P 500 could potentially grow to approximately $25,937 over 10 years.
Does the S&P 500 Pay Dividends? The S&P 500 is an index, so it does not pay dividends; however, there are mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the index, which you can invest in. If the companies in these funds pay dividends, you'll receive yours based on how many shares of the funds you hold.
What is the 10 year return of the sp500?
| Period | Average annualised return | Total return |
|---|---|---|
| Last year | 30.7% | 30.7% |
| Last 5 years | 15.9% | 109.5% |
| Last 10 years | 15.7% | 331.4% |
| Last 20 years | 10.8% | 682.2% |
Basic Info. S&P 500 10 Year Return is at 180.6%, compared to 174.1% last month and 161.9% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 114.4%.
Our recommendation for the best overall S&P 500 index fund is the Fidelity 500 Index Fund. With a 0.015% expense ratio, it's the cheapest on our list. And it doesn't have a minimum initial investment requirement, sales loads or trading fees. Over the last 10 years, FXAIX has returned an annualized 12.02%.
- SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY).
- iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV).
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO).
- SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPLG).
- Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP).
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, VOO is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market.
