What Is SPLV? Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF

SPLV is the Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF, a fund that holds the 100 stocks in the S&P 500 with the lowest realized volatility over the trailing 12 months. It tracks the S&P 500 Low Volatility Index, weighting each holding by inverse volatility so the calmest stocks carry the most weight, and it rebalances quarterly to refresh the list as market conditions change. At a 0.25% expense ratio, it is a rules-based factor fund rather than a plain cap-weighted core.

The defining feature of SPLV is its defensiveness. By selecting purely for low price volatility, the fund naturally fills up with steady large-caps, often utilities, consumer staples, and stable financials, and tilts toward whichever of those sectors has been calmest at each rebalance. The result is a fund that tends to move less than the broad market in both directions: it usually loses less in downturns and gains less in sharp rallies.

Approximate weights as of early 2026; refresh quarterly from Invesco's fund page. Each ticker links to its individual stock guide in Walnut.

Because SPLV weights by inverse volatility, its holdings look nothing like a cap-weighted S&P 500 fund. The mega-cap tech names that dominate VOO are largely absent (they are too volatile to qualify), and the top of the fund is filled with utilities and consumer staples instead: names like Southern Company, Duke Energy, American Electric Power, WEC Energy, Coca-Cola, and Procter & Gamble, each at roughly 1 to 1.5%. See the top-10 table above for current weights. No single position dominates, which is by design.

The other roughly 90 holdings round out a portfolio that is concentrated by sector even though it is spread across many names. Utilities and consumer staples typically make up a large share, with stable financials, healthcare, and real estate filling the rest. That sector mix is not fixed: each quarterly rebalance can shift it meaningfully, so if market volatility moves into a sector that was previously calm, SPLV's exposure rotates with it.

All three are lower-risk equity tilts, but they get there differently. SPLV uses a simple rule: the 100 lowest-volatility S&P 500 stocks, weighted by inverse volatility, which leaves it concentrated in whichever sectors are calmest. USMV (iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF) runs an optimized minimum-variance model across a broader universe of roughly 180 names with sector and position constraints, so it stays more diversified. SCHD screens instead for quality dividend payers, a related but distinct defensive idea.

The practical choice is between SPLV's pure-rule simplicity and the alternatives' broader construction. SPLV is the most direct low-volatility expression: easy to understand and heavily defensive, but more sector-concentrated and more prone to quarter-to-quarter rotation. USMV is the optimized, smoother low-vol option; SCHD is the dividend-led one. SPLV is the rules-based low-volatility alternative to USMV, for investors who want the simplest possible version of the factor.

SPLV's return comes from price appreciation across its defensive holdings plus a dividend that yields roughly 2.0%, paid monthly. Its defining behavior is muted volatility: it tends to decline less than the broad S&P 500 when markets sell off, and to lag when markets rally hard, because the high-growth names driving bull markets are exactly the volatile stocks the fund excludes. Over the past decade, with US large-cap growth leading, SPLV has generally trailed a plain S&P 500 fund.

That is the central thing to understand before buying: SPLV is built to smooth the ride, not to maximize return. Holding it means accepting that you will likely give up upside in strong bull markets in exchange for smaller drawdowns when volatility spikes. Its heavy tilt toward utilities and staples also makes it sensitive to interest rates and sector-specific risk. SPLV is best judged over full market cycles against a low-volatility benchmark rather than against the S&P 500 in a bull run.

SPLV is a common defensive tilt for investors who want equity exposure with less of the swing: one ticker holds the calmest 100 large-caps, and the inverse-volatility weighting plus quarterly rebalance keep it leaning into whatever has been steadiest. It suits people who want to stay invested through volatile periods but lose less in drawdowns, or who want a defensive sleeve alongside a growth-oriented core.

Where it falls short: SPLV's sector concentration means it can behave like a utilities-and-staples bet rather than a diversified market fund, it carries interest-rate sensitivity from that tilt, and it tends to lag meaningfully in strong bull markets. It also costs more than a plain index fund at 0.25%. Walnut isn't an investment adviser and this isn't a recommendation, but in conversation Walnut's AI can show you how much defensive exposure you already carry and where SPLV fits as a low-volatility tilt.

SPLV trades on NYSE Arca during US market hours (9:30am to 4:00pm ET) and is available commission-free at every major broker, including Robinhood, Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, Public, M1, and Webull. Fractional shares are supported at most modern brokers, which also lets the monthly dividends reinvest automatically as fractional shares (DRIP), useful for a long-term defensive holding.

Walnut doesn't replace your broker, it sits on top of it. Connect any major broker and Walnut adds an AI layer that helps you build baskets around SPLV, track how your holdings are doing against your targets, and rebalance when your allocation drifts.

SPLV is the rules-based low-volatility slice of the S&P 500, 100 of the calmest large-caps weighted by inverse volatility and reshuffled quarterly. It tends to fall less than the broad market in downturns and lag in strong bull runs, which fits it as a defensive equity holding rather than as a growth-oriented core like VOO.

Whether SPLV is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is SPLV a buy?

SPLV yields ~2.0% as of early 2026, paid by passing through the dividends of its underlying holdings. For the payout schedule, history, and how the distributions are taxed, see SPLV dividend: yield and schedule.