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Should iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IMCG) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Launched on 06/28/2004, the iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IMCG - 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 $1.57 billion, 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

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.

While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. Further, growth stocks have a higher level of volatility associated with them. Even though growth stocks are more likely to outperform their value counterparts in strong bull markets, value stocks have a record of delivering better returns in almost all markets than growth stocks.

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 0.06%, making it the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.88%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a 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.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 22.90% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Msci Inc (MSCI - Free Report) accounts for about 1.14% of total assets, followed by Arista Networks Inc (ANET - Free Report) and Arthur J Gallagher (AJG - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 10.03% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

IMCG seeks to match the performance of the MORNINGSTAR US MID CAP BROAD GROWTH INDX before fees and expenses. The Morningstar US Mid Cap Broad Growth Index comprises of mid-capitalization U.S. equities that exhibit growth characteristics.

The ETF has added about 12.28% so far this year and is up roughly 11.99% in the last one year (as of 07/10/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $49.20 and $61.06.

The ETF has a beta of 1.08 and standard deviation of 22.93% for the trailing three-year period. With about 332 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Morningstar Mid-Cap 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, IMCG is an excellent 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 Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT - Free Report) and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $10.83 billion in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $12.80 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IWP charges 0.23%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they 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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