Looking for broad exposure to the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market? You should consider the iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF (IVW), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on May 22, 2000.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $62.70 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
Why Large Cap Growth
Companies that find themselves in the large cap category typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. They tend to be stable companies with predictable cash flows and are usually less volatile than mid and small cap companies.
Growth stocks have higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. While these are expected to grow faster than the broader market, they also have higher valuations. Also, growth stocks are a type of equity that carries more risk compared to others. Even though growth stocks are more likely to outperform their value counterparts in strong bull markets, value stocks have a record of delivering better returns in almost all markets than growth stocks.
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 0.18%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.44%.
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 Information Technology sector -- about 42.6% of the portfolio. Telecom and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 13.9% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Meta Platforms Inc Class A (META).
The top 10 holdings account for about 51.97% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
IVW seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 Growth Index before fees and expenses. The S&P 500 Growth Index measures the performance of the large capitalization growth sector of the U.S. equity market.
The ETF has added about 13.22% so far this year and it's up approximately 31.83% in the last one year (as of 08/11/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $82.96 and $114.73.
The ETF has a beta of 1.12 and standard deviation of 20.46% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 216 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, IVW is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
The Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) track a similar index. While Vanguard Growth ETF has $184.65 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $364.21 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and QQQ charges 0.2%.
Bottom-Line
While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.
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 S&P 500 Growth ETF (IVW): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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