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Should Vanguard S&P MidCap 400 Growth ETF (IVOG) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, look no further than the Vanguard S&P MidCap 400 Growth ETF (IVOG - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/09/2010.

The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $880.11 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Growth

Compared to large and small cap companies, mid cap businesses tend to have higher growth prospects and are less volatile, respectively, with market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.

Qualities of growth stocks include faster growth rates compared to the broader market, as well as higher valuations and higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. Further, growth stocks have a higher level of volatility associated with them. Compared to value stocks, growth stocks are a safer bet in a strong bull market, but don't perform as strongly in almost all other financial environments.

Costs

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.15%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.51%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 21% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Factset Research Systems Inc. (FDS - Free Report) accounts for about 1.39% of total assets, followed by Repligen Corp. (RGEN - Free Report) and Cognex Corp. (CGNX - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 11.15% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

IVOG seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Growth Index before fees and expenses. The S&P MidCap 400 Growth Index measures the performance of growth stocks of medium-size U.S. companies.

The ETF has lost about -7.82% so far this year and was up about 3.89% in the last one year (as of 01/19/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $182.26 and $218.51.

The ETF has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 24.33% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 234 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vanguard S&P MidCap 400 Growth ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, IVOG is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The Vanguard MidCap Growth ETF (VOT - Free Report) and the iShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF (IWP - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard MidCap Growth ETF has $11.24 billion in assets, iShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF has $14.24 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IWP charges 0.23%.

Bottom-Line

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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