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Is iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Launched on 07/24/2000, the iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Growth category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.
A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $11.36 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Growth. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P 900 Growth Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P 900 Growth Index measures the performance of the large and mid-capitalization growth sector of the U.S. equity market.
Cost & Other Expenses
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.
With one of the least expensive products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.04%.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.03%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For IUSG, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 43% of the portfolio --while Healthcare and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) accounts for about 13.87% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) and Amazon Com Inc (AMZN - Free Report) .
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF has added about 0% so far, and is down about -28.75% over the last 12 months (as of 01/03/2023). IUSG has traded between $78.88 and $115.40 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 28.02% for the trailing three-year period, which makes IUSG a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 480 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
IShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
First Trust US Equity Opportunities ETF (FPX - Free Report) tracks IPOX-100 U.S. Index and the iShares Morningstar Growth ETF (ILCG - Free Report) tracks MORNINGSTAR US LARGE-MID CP BRD GRWTH ID. First Trust US Equity Opportunities ETF has $802.54 million in assets, iShares Morningstar Growth ETF has $1.44 billion. FPX has an expense ratio of 0.57% and ILCG charges 0.04%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - All Cap Growth.
Bottom Line
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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Is iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Launched on 07/24/2000, the iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Growth category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.
A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $11.36 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Growth. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P 900 Growth Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P 900 Growth Index measures the performance of the large and mid-capitalization growth sector of the U.S. equity market.
Cost & Other Expenses
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.
With one of the least expensive products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.04%.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.03%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For IUSG, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 43% of the portfolio --while Healthcare and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) accounts for about 13.87% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) and Amazon Com Inc (AMZN - Free Report) .
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF has added about 0% so far, and is down about -28.75% over the last 12 months (as of 01/03/2023). IUSG has traded between $78.88 and $115.40 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 28.02% for the trailing three-year period, which makes IUSG a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 480 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
IShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
First Trust US Equity Opportunities ETF (FPX - Free Report) tracks IPOX-100 U.S. Index and the iShares Morningstar Growth ETF (ILCG - Free Report) tracks MORNINGSTAR US LARGE-MID CP BRD GRWTH ID. First Trust US Equity Opportunities ETF has $802.54 million in assets, iShares Morningstar Growth ETF has $1.44 billion. FPX has an expense ratio of 0.57% and ILCG charges 0.04%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - All Cap Growth.
Bottom Line
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.