Should iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH) Be on Your Investing Radar?

Looking for broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market? You should consider the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 05/22/2000.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $97.42 billion, making it the largest ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Blend

Compared to large and small cap companies, mid cap businesses tend to have higher growth prospects and are less volatile, respectively, with market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. Thus, companies that fall under this category provide a stable and growth-heavy investment.

Typically holding a combination of both growth and value stocks, blend ETFs also demonstrate qualities seen in value and growth investments.

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 0.05%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.35%.

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 Industrials sector--about 23% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Emcor Group Inc (EME) accounts for about 0.78% of total assets, followed by Interactive Brokers Group Inc Clas (IBKR) and Guidewire Software Inc (GWRE).

The top 10 holdings account for about 3% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

IJH seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Index before fees and expenses. The S&P MidCap 400 Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization sector of the U.S. equity market.

The ETF return is roughly 2.70% so far this year and it's up approximately 6.75% in the last one year (as of 07/15/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $51.16 and $67.87.

The ETF has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 19.63% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 410 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, IJH is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF (IWR) and the Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO) track a similar index. While iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF has $42.86 billion in assets, Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has $84.50 billion. IWR has an expense ratio of 0.19% and VO charges 0.04%.

Bottom-Line

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are 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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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