Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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IVV vs LJAN: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IVV returned +13.7% to LJAN's +5.1%, and IVV charges 0.03% to LJAN's 0.79%.

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Net assets: $885.1bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, and $12m on Oct 28, 2026 for Innovator Premium Income 15 Buffer ETF - January.

At a glance
+13.7%
IVV total return, 1 year
+5.1%
LJAN total return, 1 year
0.03%
IVV expense ratio
0.79%
LJAN expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IVV costs 0.76 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.6 points; IVV is far larger, $880.6bn against $12m.

IVV vs LJAN: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureIVVLJAN
Return
Total return, 1 year+13.7%+5.1%
Price change, 1 yearrose 12.4%rose 0.0%
Latest payout, annualized4.8%
Return of capital, issuer estimate43% of the Oct 2, 2026 payment
Benchmark
What it tracksS&P 500Benchmark: Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, measured through VOO
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.03%0.79%
Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026$880.6bn$12m
Holdings
Holdings in common0%
In the S&P 500, by weight100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund38.1%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Jan 12, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 145 weekly returns
IVV LJAN
Return
Total return edge IVV +65.0% +15.9%
Annualized edge IVV +19.7% +5.4%
Price return edge IVV +59.4% +0.5%
Risk
Volatility edge LJAN 14.2% 2.8%
Max drawdown edge LJAN −16.9% −3.7%
Downside capture 99.7% 10.1%
Beta 0.99 0.16
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe edge IVV 1.03 0.34
Sortino edge IVV 1.58 0.43
Treynor 0.081 0.061
Calmar edge LJAN 1.16 1.46
Against the benchmark
Alpha +0.1% a year −1.3% a year
Alpha t-stat 0.33 −1.20
Information ratio 0.00 −1.13
Tracking error 1.2% 12.0%

Each against its own benchmark: IVV against SPY, May 26, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026; LJAN against VOO, Jan 12, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

IVV returned more: +65.0% to +15.9%. LJAN swung less: 2.8% to 14.2%. LJAN fell less at its worst: −3.7% to −16.9%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured
Open ↓
Risk and return: IVV vs LJAN: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureIVVLJANEdgeHow it is measured
Return
Total return+65.0%+15.9%IVVPrice change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized+19.7%+5.4%IVVTotal return as a yearly rate.
Price return+59.4%+0.5%IVVPrice change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility14.2%2.8%LJANSpread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation9.3%2.2%LJANLike volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown−16.9%−3.7%LJANDeepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture99.3%10.8%Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture99.7%10.1%Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta0.990.16Not an edgeHow far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared1.000.60Not an edgeShare of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe1.030.34IVVReturn above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino1.580.43IVVReturn above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor0.0810.061Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar1.161.46LJANAnnualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
BenchmarkSPYVOOThe ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha+0.1% a year−1.3% a yearNot significantYearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat0.33−1.20Not an edgeHow sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range−0.4% to +0.5%−3.5% to +0.9%Includes zeroThe 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio0.00−1.13Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error1.2%12.0%Not an edgeHow far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 145 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

0%

By the books each fund has filed, IVV and LJAN hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IVV LJAN
Only in one fund ↓
Only in IVV
NVIDIA 7.92%
APPLE 7.61%
MICROSOFT 5.93%
AMAZON.COM INC 3.73%
ALPHABET CLASS A 2.83%
BROADCOM INC 2.45%
ALPHABET CLASS C 2.26%
META PLATFORMS CLASS A 2.05%
Only in LJAN
Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IVV iShares Core S&P 500 ETF LJAN Innovator Premium Income 15 Buffer ETF - January
Where it sits Stock ETF Income ETF
What it is Tracks the S&P 500 buffer with income, vs VOO
Total return, 1 year +13.7% +5.1%
Its benchmark over the same days +13.6% (SPY) +13.7% (VOO)
Gap to its benchmark +0.1 pts vs SPY −8.6 pts vs VOO
Cash paid, 1 year not an income fund 4.9%
Expense ratio 0.03% 0.79%
Holdings 505 not read by ETFIQ
Net assets, IVV as of Oct 27, 2026 and LJAN as of Oct 28, 2026 $885.1bn $12m

IVV and LJAN on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-DCFDD4DBAC

IVV and LJAN do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

  1. What each follows. IVV follows S&P 500 and LJAN is measured against Vanguard S&P 500 ETF through VOO.
  2. Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026).
  3. One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IVV returned +13.7% and LJAN +5.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 8.6 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund
IVV

IVV tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 505 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.

LJAN

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, LJAN paid 4.9% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 0.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +5.1%. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) returned +13.7% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 8.6 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 4.8%, paid monthly. Innovator estimates that 43% of the distribution paid Oct 2, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.

Questions people ask

Are IVV and LJAN in the same category?
IVV is a stock ETF and LJAN is an option-income ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
Which returned more over the last year, IVV or LJAN?
In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IVV returned +13.7% and LJAN +5.1%.
Which is cheaper, IVV or LJAN?
IVV is cheaper, by 0.76 percentage points a year. That is about $76 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Other comparisons
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ETFIQ, IVV against LJAN, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ivv-vs-ljan

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.