In 1988, Larry Fink, Robert Kapito, Susan Wagner and five other Wall Street fixed income all-stars founded Blackstone Financial Management as a separately managed but wholly owned division of The Blackstone Group — known today as Blackstone Inc. (ticker: BX). In 1992, Blackstone Financial Management became a separate corporate entity after being acquired by PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC) and rebranding itself as BlackRock. Seven years later, in 1999, BlackRock achieved full independence when it went public in a highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO). The rest, as they say, is Wall Street history.
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Today, BlackRock Inc. (BLK) boasts $11.6 trillion in assets under management, or AUM, and is, by far, the largest money manager in the world. The firm manages a large variety of mutual funds and separately managed accounts under the BlackRock brand and through its Aladdin Wealth platform, but retail investors probably know the company best through its iShares family of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. With over 1,400 funds and $3.5 trillion in AUM, iShares are considered by many to be Wall Street’s premier provider of ETFs.
Credible financial advisors generally don’t recommend investors place all their capital with any one money manager, not even one with the reach and financial resources of BlackRock. That said, iShares by BlackRock offers a comprehensive and highly versatile suite of funds to choose from. The company’s extensive range, cost efficiency and long-term outlook align nicely with the needs of retail investors, especially those saving for retirement in an IRA account.
For the right investor, the following list of seven BlackRock ETFs could conceivably make up a well-rounded, diversified retirement portfolio by itself. It includes a broad market, large-cap index fund, government and corporate bond funds, a technology-focused fund, an international fund, a real estate fund and a dividend growth fund. This list, however, is not meant to be definitive. Instead, it should be viewed as a starting point for retirement investors interested in researching BlackRock ETFs for inclusion in an IRA. BlackRock recently reported that iShares manages money for 100 million individual and institutional investors. It’s a good bet that one or more of the following funds will be the right ETF for your IRA.
| BlackRock ETF | Expense Ratio | Market Value |
| iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) | 0.03% | $582 billion |
| iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY) | 0.15% | $24 billion |
| iShares 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (IGSB) | 0.04% | $21 billion |
| iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF (USRT) | 0.08% | $3 billion |
| iShares U.S. Technology ETF (IYW) | 0.39% | $20 billion |
| iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF (IXUS) | 0.07% | $44 billion |
| iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO) | 0.08% | $31 billion |
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV)
The S&P 500 is widely considered to be a good representation of the broad stock market. As such, many financial advisors believe that an S&P 500 index fund should be the foundation of any long-term brokerage IRA account.
IVV is a low-cost, $582 billion ETF designed to mirror the S&P 500 after the low 0.03% expense ratio is subtracted. The fund provides comprehensive exposure to the S&P, which comprises 500 leading U.S. stocks.
The very low management fee and infrequent internal trading mean this fund could be a suitable core portfolio holding for either a taxable account or a tax-deferred retirement account such as an IRA. IVV has a current forward yield of 1.3% as of its July 11 close.
iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY)
For several reasons including income and diversification, it’s important to have a fixed-income component to your IRA portfolio. SHY is a high-quality, government bond fund in BlackRock’s iShares family of funds. This ETF has over $24 billion in net assets.
SHY is a low-cost ETF that mirrors the ICE US Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index, which is a benchmark designed to track the performance of short-term U.S. Treasury bonds with between one and three years of remaining maturity. SHY should reliably deliver the income and price performance of the short-term Treasury market after the 0.15% expense ratio is accounted for.
The fund is designed to target the short segment of the government bond yield curve and to customize exposure to short-term Treasury bonds. SHY has a current forward dividend yield of 4% as of its July 11 close.
iShares 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (IGSB)
Corporate bond exposure can be as important to a retirement portfolio as government bond exposure. BlackRock’s iShares family of ETFs offers several excellent corporate bond funds. Because of the high credit quality, IGSB is well suited to investment in an IRA account.
This index fund features a very low expense ratio of 0.04% and currently has a forward dividend yield of 4.2%. IGSB is managed to replicate the performance of the ICE BofA 1-5 Year Corporate Bond Index.
By providing exposure to domestic, investment-grade corporate bonds, IGSB makes a perfect complement to SHY — mentioned above — or any other government securities fund an investor might hold in an IRA.
The bonds in the fund are all rated BBB- or higher by S&P and/or Baa3 or higher by Moody’s, and none of the maturities extend beyond five years. This makes IGSB an excellent core bond holding for reasonable income and relative price stability. IGSB has net assets of $2.9 billion.
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iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF (USRT)
It’s well known that real estate investment trusts, or REITs, generate regular income. For that reason, REIT ETFs may not be appropriate for some taxable accounts. However, If you’re in the accumulation phase of IRA investing, that problem is off the table. Investors saving for retirement in a tax-deferred account have no reason to avoid REIT funds, and USRT is a BlackRock fund worth considering.
USRT has net assets of $2.9 billion and a current forward dividend yield of 2.8%. The fund tracks the FTSE Nareit Equity REIT Index, which itself tracks the performance of publicly traded, domestic equity REITs. USRT is a relatively low-cost fund. After the expense ratio of 0.08% is subtracted, investors should not see any appreciable tracking error.
USRT could be a sound core real-estate holding for an IRA account. As with all BlackRock ETFs, investors can expect Wall Street’s highest levels of liquidity, transparency and professionalism when they own this ETF.
iShares U.S. Technology ETF (IYW)
Investors saving for the future cannot afford to neglect the technology sector. Technology has been the driving force behind the secular bull market we’ve seen over the last decade and a half and, although we will experience ups and downs along the way, there appears to be plenty of growth still ahead.
IYW is a $20 billion ETF that provides investors with critical exposure to electronics companies, computer hardware and software companies, and information technology firms. In other words, an investment in IYW is an investment in the cutting-edge tech that’s pushing our economy forward and nudging the stock market higher.
This fund’s top 10 holdings include Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR). Those names, along with the other 138 tech stocks in the portfolio, are the reason this fund has appreciated 149% in the five years ending July 10, and why it holds so much promise for future growth.
IYW has an expense ratio of 0.39%. It also has a small current forward dividend yield of 0.2%.
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF (IXUS)
The U.S. stock market has outperformed most other world markets for the past 15 years. Recently, however, President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies have prompted investors to reconsider international investing. The U.S. remains an economic powerhouse, but prudence dictates diversification.
IXUS is a good-sized international ETF with $44 billion in net assets. Tech funds aren’t necessarily known for distributing income, but this fund has a current forward dividend yield of 2.9%.
IXUS invests in small-, mid- and large-cap non-U.S. stocks. It could be the right fund for IRA investors looking for broad exposure to a range of international companies, including stocks in emerging- and developing-market countries.
It is reasonable for younger or more aggressive investors to use this ETF as a core international holding inside an IRA, but older or more conservative investors should understand that international investing — especially in funds that invest in smaller companies in emerging markets — does carry enhanced risk compared to domestic large-cap investing.
The fund’s benchmark is the MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI Index. It has a low expense ratio of just 0.07%.
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO)
Dividend yield is an important component of a stock’s total return. It follows that stocks that increase dividends over time will — all else being equal — become more valuable over the long run. That’s the simple rationale behind dividend growth investing, and it’s the reason smart investors should consider owning a dividend growth ETF in their IRA.
DGRO is a $31 billion iShares ETF that tracks the Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index. To be included in the benchmark and the fund, a stock must have increased its annual dividend for at least five consecutive years, have a payout ratio of less than 75%, and have a uniformly positive consensus earnings forecast from Wall Street.
In other words, the stocks in DGRO are, and are likely to remain, high-quality dividend growth companies. The fund’s top holdings include JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and many other household names suitable for retirement investing.
The fund’s forward dividend yield is 2.2%, and its expense ratio is just 0.08%.
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7 Best BlackRock ETFs to Buy in an IRA Account originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 07/14/25: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
