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

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on July 17, 2001.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $21.07 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Growth

Mid cap companies have market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. They usually have higher growth prospects than large cap companies and are less volatile than small cap companies. 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. They are likely to outperform value stocks in strong bull markets but over the longer-term, value stocks have delivered better returns than growth stocks in almost all markets.

Costs

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

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 0.44%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Consumer Discretionary sector -- about 22% of the portfolio. Industrials and Information Technology round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Royal Caribbean Group Ltd (RCL) accounts for about 2.86% of total assets, followed by Roblox Corp Class A (RBLX) and Howmet Aerospace Inc (HWM).

The top 10 holdings account for about 20.8% 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 14.88% so far this year and it's up approximately 25.04% in the last one year (as of 09/23/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $104.34 and $145.26.

The ETF has a beta of 1.15 and standard deviation of 20.33% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 283 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) and the Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT) track a similar index. While iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF has $9.32 billion in assets, Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $18.03 billion. IJK has an expense ratio of 0.17% and VOT charges 0.07%.

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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