If you're interested in broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, look no further than the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 07/17/2001.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $19.54 billion, making it the largest 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. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.
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. Additionally, growth stocks have a greater level of risk associated with them. 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
Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.
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 0.37%.
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.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Consumer Discretionary sector--about 22.90% of the portfolio. Industrials and Information Technology round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Royal Caribbean Group Ltd (RCL) accounts for about 2.78% of total assets, followed by Howmet Aerospace Inc (HWM) and Vistra Corp (VST).
The top 10 holdings account for about 20.28% 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 has added roughly 10.64% so far this year and was up about 24.93% in the last one year (as of 07/23/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $103.87 and $140.64.
The ETF has a beta of 1.13 and standard deviation of 21.05% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 281 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 an excellent 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 billion in assets, Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $17.47 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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iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP): ETF Research Reports Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL): Free Stock Analysis Report Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT): ETF Research Reports iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF (IJK): ETF Research Reports Vistra Corp. (VST): Free Stock Analysis Report Howmet Aerospace Inc. (HWM): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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