If you're interested in broad exposure to the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, look no further than the iShares Russell Top 200 Growth ETF (IWY), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on September 22, 2009.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $16.90 billion, making it one of the larger 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. Considered a more stable option, large cap companies boast more predictable cash flows and are less volatile than their mid and small cap counterparts.
Qualities of growth stocks include faster growth rates compared to the broader market, as well as higher valuations and higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. Something to keep in mind is the higher level of volatility that is affiliated with growth stocks. 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
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 0.2%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.35%.
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 58.2% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Telecom round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 14.59% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Apple Inc (AAPL).
The top 10 holdings account for about 64.39% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
IWY seeks to match the performance of the Russell Top 200 Growth Index before fees and expenses. The Russell Top 200 Growth Index is a style factor weighted index that measures the performance of the largest capitalization growth sector of the U.S. equity market. It is a subset of the Russell Top 200 Index issuers with relatively higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth, which measures the performance of the largest capitalization sector of the U.S. equity market.
The ETF return is roughly 19.83% so far this year and was up about 21.57% in the last one year (as of 11/13/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $187.50 and $288.26.
The ETF has a beta of 1.12 and standard deviation of 19.45% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 114 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
iShares Russell Top 200 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, IWY is an outstanding 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 $202.58 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $408.18 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 Russell Top 200 Growth ETF (IWY): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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