Is the iShares S&P 500 ETF (IVV) a buy following its stock split?

Leading exchange-traded fund (ETF) iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) recently went through a stock split.

Blackrock decided to do a stock split with the iShares S&P 500 ETF – it’s a 15:1 stock split, which is why the unit price has gone from close to $600 to around $40.

The ETF returned to normal trading on a normal settlement basis this week.

I think it’s important to remember that a stock split doesn’t mean investors have more or less invested in the ETF. A $1,200 investment is still worth $1,200 whether it was spread across two units or 30. The pizza has been divided into many more slices, but it’s still the same amount of pizza.

Is the iShares S&P 500 ETF a buy?

Warren Buffett himself has said that (American) investors can do well by just investing in an S&P 500 fund.

I think it’s attractive for a number of different reasons.

For starters, the fund has an extremely low annual management fee of just 0.04%. This means investors can get exposure to the portfolio for almost nothing.

I think it’s a great portfolio. Everyone may have their own thoughts on the US economy, but many of the businesses listed in the US are global powers in their respective industries.

Apple sells its smartphones all over the world. Microsoft’s office software and Xbox consoles have a worldwide user base. Amazon‘s e-commerce is growing, along with its cloud computing service AWS. Alphabet’s Youtube, Google Search and more are used by people worldwide.

There are many other worldwide businesses in the portfolio such as Berkshire Hathaway, Tesla, Johnson & Johnson and Exxon Mobil.

The ETF has produced solid returns over the past three years, despite a large amount of volatility that investors have suffered from because of high inflation and rising interest rates.

In the five years to November 2022, the iShares S&P 500 ETF had returned an average of 13.5% per annum. While past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance, I think it shows the types of returns that the underlying businesses are capable of producing over time.

Foolish takeaway

While the future is uncertain – there’s always uncertainty – I think that the iShares S&P 500 ETF is a leading idea to consider for investors that want to invest in ETFs focused on international shares. The stock split doesn’t really mean anything in terms of how attractive the investment is, but I think it’s compelling as a passive investment option.