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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?

The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.

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.

But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

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 $24.64 billion, making it the largest ETF in the Style Box - All Cap Growth. IUSG 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

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.04%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 0.56%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 39.7% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Telecom and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 14.42% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Meta Platforms Inc Class A (META).

The top 10 holdings account for about 51.84% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF return is roughly 14.04% so far, and is up roughly 28.36% over the last 12 months (as of 09/08/2025). IUSG has traded between $113.67 $158.83 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.11 and standard deviation of 19.91% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 461 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF (QGRO) tracks AMERICAN CENTURY U.S. QUALITY GROWTH IND and the iShares Morningstar Growth ETF (ILCG) tracks MORNINGSTAR US LARGE-MID CP BRD GRWTH ID. American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF has $1.92 billion in assets, iShares Morningstar Growth ETF has $2.93 billion. QGRO has an expense ratio of 0.29% and ILCG changes 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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