Trump Accounts: Comparing the 5 Selected Low-Cost Index ETFs

Key Points

• Trump Accounts, launched on July 4, offer tax-advantaged investing for children under 18, with $1,000 in government funding for babies born between 2025 and 2028.
• The U.S. Treasury released a list of five low-cost index funds selected for eligibility, with the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF as the default option at launch.
• The five selected ETFs include SPYM, IVV, VTI, SPTM, and ITOT, which differ in diversification, expense ratios, dividend yields, and levels of institutional ownership.

No matter what side of the aisle your political beliefs and values align with, there is one thing the majority of Americans can agree on: the country finds itself firmly in an affordability crisis. From a lopsided housing market and elevated used car prices to college tuition and higher energy prices fueling inflation, prices for everyday items and wealth-building milestones are near all-time highs.

To help younger generations address that issue, the Trump administration announced in December 2025 that it was establishing Trump Accounts—tax-advantaged investment vehicles for U.S. children under the age of 18.

Officially launched on July 4, the accounts offer government funding of $1,000 for eligible babies born between 2025 and 2028, with up to $5,000 in addition funding from family and friends permitted each year.

The idea behind the accounts is to give eligible children a head start. And on July 1, the U.S. Treasury Department released its list of low-cost index funds that plan participants can choose from. While the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF NYSEARCA: SPYM. is currently the default investment in Trump Accounts at launch, the Treasury intends to add four additional funds to its list of offerings in the coming months,

State Street’s Ultra-Low-Cost S&P 500 ETF

Formerly trading under the ticker SPLG, SPYM is a passively managed fund tracking the S&P 500.

At just 0.02%, it features one of the lowest expense ratios on the market. A hypothetical $50,000 invested in SPYM would render fees of just $10 annually.

The fund invests primarily in mega- and large-cap U.S. equities. As it mirrors the S&P 500, it has gained more than 10% this year and more than 20% over the trailing year.

Like the index itself, SPYM’s portfolio is heavily tilted toward tech names, including the Magnificent Seven and AI stocks like Broadcom NASDAQ: AVGO and Micron Technology NASDAQ: MU.

Because of that, the fund's performance is expected to outperform weighted benchmarks during rallies and underperform during pullbacks and corrections due to its elevated tech exposure.

iShares’ S&P 500 Low-Cost Fund Offers Appealing Yield

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF NYSEARCA: IVV is comparable to SPYM in that it is passively managed, utilizes weighted tracking of the S&P 500, and has a very low expense ratio—its 0.03% is only marginally higher than SPYM's.

As a result, the ETF has performed almost identically year to date and over the past 12 months, while its holdings are indistinguishable from SPYM’s list.

With nearly $890 billion in assets under management (AUM), IVV is the largest fund eligible for Trump Accounts.

One place the fund differentiates itself is its dividend, which yields 1.08%—or $8.18 per share annually—compared to SPYM’s dividend, which yields 1.03%.

The ETF is also popular among the smart money. Current institutional ownership stands at more than 70%.

Vanguard’s Holistic U.S. Stock Market ETF

Whereas the first two options limit exposure to the 500 largest publicly listed U.S. companies, the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF NYSEARCA: VTI tracks the CRSP US Total Market Index, which represents approximately 100% of the investable U.S. equity market.

In doing so, the fund provides markedly superior diversification with just shy of 3,500 holdings.

However, because it is market-weighted, there is still a bias toward tech, which accounts for nearly 36% of the portfolio, with 16% exposure allocated to the semiconductor industry.

At 1.05%, VTI’s dividend falls between SPYM’s and IVV’s and pays $3.90 per share annually.

But in the era of thematic ETFs, VTI’s broad exposure has led to below-average institutional ownership of just 28.92%.

State Street’s Broad-Based, Well-Balanced Composite Fund

With more than 1,500 holdings, the SPDR Portfolio S&P 1500 Composite Stock Market ETF NYSEARCA: SPTM provides superior diversification to SPYM and IVV without tracking the total U.S. market index like VTI.

The fund’s dividend yields 1.05%, or 96 cents per share annually, and its expense ratio of 0.03% falls in line with the other ETFs on this list.

But with less than $14 billion in AUM, SPTM is the smallest fund of these five options.

Where SPTM stands out is in its broader market-cap exposure.

By combining large-, mid-, and small-cap U.S. stocks, the fund offers greater diversification than SPYM and IVV, although its sector mix remains similar to that of other broad-market funds.

Technology still accounts for nearly 36% of the portfolio, followed by financials at nearly 13%, consumer discretionary at 10%, and communication services and industrials, both around 9%.

iShares’ Total Market Offering

The iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF NYSEARCA: ITOT offers broader diversification than SPYM and IVV as it tracks the S&P Total Market Index, which provides exposure to U.S. stocks across market-cap segments.

With nearly 2,500 companies in its portfolio, ITOT offers a more balanced sector approach with allocations similar to SPTM.

However, its dividend yields just 0.99%—the lowest of all five options eligible for Trump accounts—and institutional ownership has seen nearly as much selling as buying over the past 12 months, with just over $801 million in inflows versus nearly $737 million in outflows.