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

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Launched on 09/09/2010, the Vanguard S&P MidCap 400 Growth ETF (IVOG - 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 Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $816.15 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.

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. Additionally, growth stocks have a greater level of risk associated with them. When you consider growth versus value, growth stocks are usually the clear winner in strong bull markets but tend to fall flat in nearly all other environments.

Costs

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

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 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 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 is up roughly 1.12% in the last one year (as of 03/23/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $179.34 and $218.51.

The ETF has a beta of 1.10 and standard deviation of 25.10% 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 a great 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 $11.09 billion in assets, iShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF has $13.89 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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