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

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, look no further than the iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IMCG - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on June 28, 2004.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $2.85 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. Thus they have a nice balance of growth potential and stability.

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. Also, growth stocks are a type of equity that carries more risk compared to others. 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

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

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.75%.

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 23.3% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Royal Caribbean Group Ltd (RCL) accounts for about 1.4% of total assets, followed by Snowflake Inc (SNOW) and Coinbase Global Inc Class A (COIN).

The top 10 holdings account for about 11.61% 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 7.66% so far this year and is up roughly 23.7% in the last one year (as of 08/07/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $63.36 and $82.77.

The ETF has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 19.16% for the trailing three-year period. With about 278 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 outstanding 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) and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP) track a similar index. While Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $17.52 billion in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $20.18 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IWP charges 0.23%.

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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