Designed to provide broad exposure to the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, the iShares Russell Top 200 Growth ETF (IWY) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/22/2009.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $13.98 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
Large cap companies typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Overall, they are usually a stable option, with less risk and more sure-fire cash flows than mid and small cap companies.
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. Further, growth stocks have a higher level of volatility 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 0.20%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.42%.
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 49.50% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Telecom round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT) accounts for about 11.32% of total assets, followed by Nvidia Corp (NVDA) and Apple Inc (AAPL).
The top 10 holdings account for about 60.15% 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 has gained about 5.11% so far this year and is up roughly 11.13% in the last one year (as of 07/08/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $187.50 and $248.36.
The ETF has a beta of 1.15 and standard deviation of 21.33% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 110 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
IShares Russell Top 200 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, IWY is a reasonable 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 $175.36 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $352.40 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and QQQ charges 0.20%.
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 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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