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Should iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market? You should consider the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 07/17/2001.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $14.19 billion, making it the largest ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Growth

With market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion, mid cap companies usually contain higher growth prospects than large cap companies, and are considered less risky than their small cap counterparts. Thus they have a nice balance of growth potential and stability.

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. Something to keep in mind is the higher level of volatility that is affiliated with growth stocks. 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

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain 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 0.49%.

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 Information Technology sector--about 25.20% of the portfolio. Industrials and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Crowdstrike Holdings Inc Class A (CRWD - Free Report) accounts for about 2.09% of total assets, followed by Apollo Global Management Inc (APO - Free Report) and Dexcom Inc (DXCM - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 14.99% 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 return is roughly 5.37% so far this year and was up about 24.06% in the last one year (as of 05/08/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $85.66 and $114.14.

The ETF has a beta of 1.10 and standard deviation of 23.01% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 335 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Russell 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, IWP 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 iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF (IJK - Free Report) and the Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF has $9.65 billion in assets, Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $13.02 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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