The iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF (IVW) was launched on 05/22/2000, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $50.13 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
Large cap companies 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. Additionally, growth stocks have a greater level of risk associated with them. 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
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
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 0.50%.
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 Information Technology sector--about 36.80% of the portfolio. Telecom and Financials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 11.39% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT).
The top 10 holdings account for about 50.97% 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 lost about -8.97% so far this year and it's up approximately 10.13% in the last one year (as of 04/10/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $79.31 and $106.69.
The ETF has a beta of 1.11 and standard deviation of 22.48% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 212 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
IShares S&P 500 Growth 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, IVW is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
The Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) track a similar index. While Vanguard Growth ETF has $143.02 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $291.89 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and QQQ charges 0.20%.
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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iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF (IVW): ETF Research Reports Apple Inc. (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report Invesco QQQ (QQQ): ETF Research Reports Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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