Launched on September 9, 2010, the Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 ETF (IVOO) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $2.78 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Why Mid Cap Blend
With market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion, mid cap companies usually contain higher growth prospects than large cap companies, and are considered less risky than their small cap counterparts. Thus they have a nice balance of growth potential and stability.
Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.
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 0.07%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.33%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector -- about 23.8% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Interactive Brokers Group Inc (IBKR) accounts for about 0.96% of total assets, followed by Emcor Group Inc (EME) and Comfort Systems Usa Inc (FIX).
The top 10 holdings account for about 5.36% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
IVOO 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-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index composed of 400 domestic common stocks.
The ETF has added roughly 5.24% so far this year and is up roughly 7.54% in the last one year (as of 09/01/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $86.58 and $115.08.
The ETF has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 19.41% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 406 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 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, IVOO is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
The Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO) and the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH) track a similar index. While Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has $87.41 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF has $99.70 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IJH charges 0.05%.
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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Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 ETF (IVOO): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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