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Should iShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF (IWP) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Launched on 07/17/2001, the iShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF (IWP - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $12.23 billion, making it the largest ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Growth

Mid cap companies, with market capitalization in the range of $2 billion and $10 billion, offer investors many things that small and large companies don't, including less risk and higher growth opportunities. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.

Growth stocks have higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. While these are expected to grow faster than the broader market, they also have higher valuations. Also, growth stocks are a type of equity that carries more risk compared to others. They are likely to outperform value stocks in strong bull markets but over the longer-term, value stocks have delivered better returns than growth stocks in almost all markets.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.23%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.58%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector--about 28.20% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Synopsys Inc (SNPS - Free Report) accounts for about 1.57% of total assets, followed by Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS - Free Report) and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 4.2% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

IWP seeks to match the performance of the Russell MidCap Growth Index before fees and expenses. The Russell Midcap Growth Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization growth sector of the U.S. equity market. It is a subset of the Russell Midcap Index, which measures the performance of the mid-capitalization sector of the U.S. equity market & approximately 47% of the total market value of the Russell Midcap Index.

The ETF has lost about -22.44% so far this year and is down about -25.45% in the last one year (as of 11/28/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $75.41 and $117.68.

The ETF has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 29.68% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 413 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, IWP is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares S&P MidCap 400 Growth ETF (IJK - Free Report) and the Vanguard MidCap Growth ETF (VOT - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares S&P MidCap 400 Growth ETF has $7.25 billion in assets, Vanguard MidCap Growth ETF has $9.86 billion. IJK has an expense ratio of 0.17% and VOT charges 0.07%.

Bottom-Line

While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.

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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