A market-cap weighted index of 500 large US companies, serving as the most representative benchmark for US equities and the global economy. • Covers ~80% of total US stock market capitalization • Comprises 11 sectors (IT, Healthcare, Financials, Energy, etc.) • Long-term average annual return ~10% (including dividends) • Top 10 stocks (Apple, NVIDIA, Microsoft, etc.) account for ~35% of the index Serves as the benchmark for global pension funds, ETFs, and passive funds. The first index global investors check. Strongly correlated with KOSPI.