Which is cheaper, IVV or USEP?

IVV charges 0.03% a year and USEP charges 0.79%, so IVV is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Are IVV and USEP the same kind of fund?

No. IVV is an index ETF and USEP is a buffer ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

IVV vs USEP: how they differ

IVV and USEP are measured over different days, and IVV charges 0.03% against 0.79%.

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF and Innovator U.S. Equity Ultra Buffer ETF - Sep.

IVV and USEP on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	IVV iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	USEP Innovator U.S. Equity Ultra Buffer ETF - Sep
Where it sits	Core index fund	Buffer ETF
Issuer	iShares	Innovator
What it is	S&P 500	Defined outcome, 5% to 35% on SPY
Total return, 1 year	+17.6%	not published
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	not published
Gap to the S&P 500	+0.1 pts	not available
Expense ratio	0.03%	0.79%
Holdings	504	not filed

IVV in plain words

IVV is an index equity fund tracking the S&P 500. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +17.6% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 36.4%.

USEP in plain words

From its price on Sep 12, 2026, the fund can gain about 14.8% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 4.9% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 4.7% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 30.0% of the 30.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 354 days remained on Sep 12, 2026. On Aug 31, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, IVV or USEP?: IVV charges 0.03% a year and USEP charges 0.79%, so IVV is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are IVV and USEP the same kind of fund?: No. IVV is an index ETF and USEP is a buffer ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

IVV against USEP, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 12, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, IVV against USEP, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/IVV-USEP Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources