Yahoo Finance Should iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF (IWR) Be on Your Investing Radar?
Launched on 07/17/2001, the iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF (IWR) 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 Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $26.75 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Why Mid Cap Blend
Mid cap companies, with market capitalization in the range of $2 billion and $10 billion, offer investors many things that small and large companies don't, including less risk and higher growth opportunities. Thus they have a nice balance of growth potential and stability.
Blend ETFs are aptly named, since they tend to hold a mix of growth and value stocks, as well as show characteristics of both kinds of equities.
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%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.63%.
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 Industrials sector--about 17.70% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Financials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Synopsys Inc (SNPS) accounts for about 0.61% of total assets, followed by Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS) and Oreilly Automotive Inc (ORLY).
The top 10 holdings account for about 5.15% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
IWR seeks to match the performance of the Russell MidCap Index before fees and expenses. The Russell Midcap Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization sector of the U.S. equity market.
The ETF return is roughly 1.52% so far this year and is down about -4.87% in the last one year (as of 05/30/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $62.09 and $75.04.
The ETF has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 20.35% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 818 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
IShares Russell Mid-Cap 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, IWR 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 $50.42 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF has $64.48 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IJH charges 0.05%.
Bottom-Line
An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they 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 Russell Mid-Cap ETF (IWR): ETF Research Reports
O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (ORLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Synopsys, Inc. (SNPS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (CDNS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH): ETF Research Reports
Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO): ETF Research Reports
