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Should iShares Russell Top 200 Value ETF (IWX) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Launched on 09/22/2009, the iShares Russell Top 200 Value ETF (IWX - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Large Cap Value segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $443.80 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Value segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Value

Companies that fall in the large cap category tend to have a market capitalization above $10 billion. They tend to be stable companies with predictable cash flows and are usually less volatile than mid and small cap companies.

Value stocks have lower than average price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios. They also have lower than average sales and earnings growth rates. Looking at their long-term performance, value stocks have outperformed growth stocks in almost all markets. They are however likely to underperform growth stocks in strong bull markets.

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 0.20%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.41%.

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 Financials sector--about 24.80% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Energy round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Jpmorgan Chase & Co (JPM - Free Report) accounts for about 4.17% of total assets, followed by Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B (BRK.B - Free Report) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 32.04% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

IWX seeks to match the performance of the Russell Top 200 Value Index before fees and expenses. The Russell Top 200 Value Index is a style factor weighted index that measures the performance of the largest capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market.

The ETF return is roughly 9.55% so far this year and is up about 4.52% in the last one year (as of 05/29/2019). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $44.99 and $54.71.

The ETF has a beta of 0.92 and standard deviation of 11.63% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 138 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Russell Top 200 Value 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, IWX is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD - Free Report) and the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF has $37.16 B in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $46.08 B. IWD has an expense ratio of 0.20% and VTV charges 0.04%.

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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