Launched on July 17, 2001, the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $19.99 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
Why Mid Cap Growth
Mid cap companies have market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. They usually have higher growth prospects than large cap companies and are less volatile than small cap companies. Thus, companies that fall under this category provide a stable and growth-heavy investment.
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. Additionally, growth stocks have a greater level of risk associated with them. Compared to value stocks, growth stocks are a safer bet in a strong bull market, but don't perform as strongly in almost all other financial environments.
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 0.23%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.34%.
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 Consumer Discretionary sector -- about 21.2% of the portfolio. Industrials and Information Technology round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Howmet Aerospace Inc (HWM) accounts for about 2.75% of total assets, followed by Cloudflare Inc Class A (NET) and Vertiv Holdings Class A (VRT).
The top 10 holdings account for about 22.07% 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 8.95% so far this year and it's up approximately 1.97% in the last one year (as of 11/27/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $104.34 and $145.30.
The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 19.35% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 287 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 $9.18 billion in assets, Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $17.78 billion. IJK has an expense ratio of 0.17% and VOT charges 0.07%.
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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iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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