Should iShares Russell 1000 ETF (IWB) Be on Your Investing Radar?

The iShares Russell 1000 ETF (IWB) was launched on 05/15/2000, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $41.49 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Blend

Companies that find themselves in the large cap category typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Considered a more stable option, large cap companies boast more predictable cash flows and are less volatile than their mid and small cap counterparts.

Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.15%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.09%.

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 32.30% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT) accounts for about 6.34% of total assets, followed by Nvidia Corp (NVDA) and Apple Inc (AAPL).

The top 10 holdings account for about 32.79% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

IWB seeks to match the performance of the Russell 1000 Index before fees and expenses. The Russell 1000 Index measures the performance of the large-capitalization sector of the U.S. equity market. The Index is a float-adjusted capitalization-weighted index of equity securities issued by the approximately 1,000 largest issuers in the Russell 3000 Index.

The ETF has added roughly 7.66% so far this year and was up about 15.31% in the last one year (as of 07/21/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $272.36 and $345.22.

The ETF has a beta of 1.01 and standard deviation of 17.10% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 1009 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Russell 1000 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, IWB is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) track a similar index. While SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $643.07 billion in assets, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has $692.66 billion. SPY has an expense ratio of 0.09% and VOO charges 0.03%.

Bottom-Line

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds 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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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