What this ETF is trying to do

The ISHARES CORE 80/20 AGGRESSIVE ALLOCATION ETF (AOA) is designed to provide a mix of different types of investments. Based on its name, it uses an "aggressive" strategy, which typically means it holds a large amount of stocks compared to bonds. This ETF is a diversified fund that holds several different funds within it to spread out risk.

What the numbers show

The data shows that AOA has experienced growth in both its share price and its total return. It is important to understand the difference between these two: price return only tracks how much the share price changes, while total return includes both price changes and the money paid out through distributions.

Here is a look at the performance:

• Year-to-Date (YTD): The price return is approximately 9.44%, while the total return is approximately 10.88%.

• One-Year: The price return is approximately 10.85%, while the total return is approximately 13.38%.

• Three-Year: The price return is approximately 54.79%, while the total return is approximately 65.67%.

To give you an idea of price movement, the current price is $98.01. The estimated price from roughly one year ago was approximately $88.42.

Income and distribution explanation

AOA provides regular cash payments to investors, known as distributions. The distribution yield is approximately 2.15%. This number describes the cash payments relative to the current ETF price.

The fund usually pays out on a quarterly basis, with 4 payments recorded over the last 12 months. The trailing distributions (the total cash paid out per share over the last year) were approximately $2.11.

NAV erosion explanation

"NAV erosion" refers to a decline in the Net Asset Value (the actual value of the assets held by the fund). While some investors worry that high payouts might cause an ETF's value to shrink, AOA does not show signs of this.

The fund has an erosion-risk score of 100, which is labeled as "No price erosion detected." There is no severe erosion-risk flag for this ETF. The supplied data is sufficient to evaluate price erosion, but it does not include enough historical NAV-per-share data to confirm or rule out NAV erosion.

Pros

• Diversification: The fund holds a variety of assets, including S&P 500 stocks and international markets.

• Strong Returns: The total return has significantly outperformed the simple price return over the one-year and three-year periods.

• Low Erosion Risk: The data shows no detected price erosion.

Cons

• Aggressive Strategy: Because it is an "aggressive" allocation fund, it may experience more price swings than a conservative fund.

Top Holdings

The following are the top holdings in the portfolio (as of October 12, 2026). Please note that holdings can change over time:

• ISHARES CORE S&P 500 ETF (46.85%)

• ISHARES CORE MSCI INTL DEV MKTS ETF (22.25%)

• ISHARES CORE UNIVERSAL USD BOND ETF (15.37%)

• ISHARES CORE MSCI EMERGING MARKETS ETF (8.96%)

• ISHARES CORE INTERNATIONAL AGGT BD ETF (2.80%)

• ISHARES CORE S&P MID-CAP ETF (2.48%)

• ISHARES CORE S&P SMALL-CAP ETF (1.19%)

Beginner takeaway

AOA is an aggressive fund that seeks to grow through a mix of stocks and bonds. For investors looking at the numbers, the total return is higher than the price return, meaning the distributions are adding value to the overall investment. While it provides a modest distribution yield, its primary focus appears to be long-term growth through its diversified holdings.