With more than $10 trillion in assets under management, BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world. Passive strategies make up about two thirds of those assets. In particular, the firm’s well-known iShares exchange-traded funds are low-cost solutions for both advisors and individual investors building well-diversified portfolios. The firm also offers some topnotch active bond funds and a compelling target-date series.
Morningstar’s list of the best iShares ETFs and BlackRock mutual funds to buy and hold in 2024 features top-rated funds that we expect to outperform their competitors over a full market cycle. Investors can confidently buy and hold these funds in a long-term portfolio.
Best iShares ETFs to Buy and Hold
These iShares ETFs investing in stocks or bonds earn a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Gold with 100% analyst coverage as of August 2024.
BlackRock Total Return ETF BRTR
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF IXUS
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV
iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF ITOT
iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF IUSB
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF AGG
This list of top-rated iShares ETFs to buy and hold covers what many would consider the core building blocks of an investment portfolio: US stocks, US bonds, and international stocks. The firm also offers dozens of ETFs targeting more refined parts of the market, including a variety of style, market cap, sector, and global strategies. Some of these ETFs earn Morningstar Medalist Ratings of Silver or Bronze and may therefore be other strategies to consider beyond the top-rated ETFs included here.
Here’s a little bit about each of the best iShares ETFs on the list from Morningstar’s analysts.
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF
Morningstar Category: Foreign Large Blend
Index: MSCI ACWI ex USA Investable Market Index
IShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF provides low-cost access to nearly every stock in the international market. Tracking the MSCI ACWI ex USA Investable Market Index, the ETF owns large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks weighted by market cap. Its low fee and superior diversification should shine through any short-term hiccups.
Read Morningstar’s full analysis of iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF.
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF
Morningstar Category: Large Blend
Index: S&P 500
IShares Core S&P 500 ETF provides exposure to US large-cap stocks at a low cost. The ETF replicates the S&P 500, which is a market-cap-weighted index of 500 of the largest US stocks that are chosen by an index committee based on liquidity and profitability standards. Management has done a good job of tracking its index, using derivatives to manage its cash, and employing securities lending to generate additional income to help keep the ETF’s expense ratio low.
Read Morningstar’s full analysis of iShares Core iShares Core S&P 500 ETF.
iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF
Morningstar Category: Large Blend
Index: S&P Total Market Index
This iShares ETF to buy and hold in 2024 offers exposure to the entire investable US stock market. It tracks the S&P Total Market Index, which includes all US-domiciled stocks that trade on a major US exchange and pass S&P’s minimum liquidity threshold. Although iShares Core S&P Total US Stock Market ETF lands in the large-blend Morningstar Category, it provides exposure to small and midsize companies. That being said, the largest stocks in the US make up the bulk of this ETF’s portfolio due to the index’s market-cap weighting.
Read Morningstar’s full analysis of iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF.
iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF
Morningstar Category: Intermediate Core-Plus Bond
Index: Bloomberg US Universal Index
This iShares ETF for the long term casts a wide net by tracking the Bloomberg US Universal Index, which includes taxable bonds across the entire credit spectrum with at least one year until maturity. Because this index includes high-yield corporate bonds, dollar-denominated emerging-markets bonds, and other lower-quality credits, iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF takes on a bit more credit risk than its sibling; the fund lands in the intermediate core-plus bond category.
Read Morningstar’s full analysis of iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF.
iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF
Morningstar Category: Intermediate Core Bond
Index: Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index
Morningstar analyst Zachary Evens says iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF’s “conservative portfolio and razor-thin expense ratio make it a compelling option.” It tracks the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index, which includes taxable, investment-grade US-dollar-denominated bonds with at least one year until maturity. The index is tilted toward the largest and most liquid US Treasuries, corporate bonds, and agency mortgage-backed securities. The fund earns an Above Average Process rating for its effective representative sampling of its index.
Read Morningstar’s full analysis of iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF.
