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Should Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Launched on 12/17/2007, the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $11.91 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. They tend to be stable companies with predictable cash flows and are usually less volatile 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. Also, growth stocks are a type of equity that carries more risk compared to others. 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

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.07%, 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

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 47.20% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Telecom round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Apple Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) accounts for about 12.44% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT - Free Report) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 55.58% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

MGK seeks to match the performance of the CRSP U.S. Mega Cap Growth Index before fees and expenses. The CRSP US Mega Cap Growth Index is a float-adjusted, market-capitalization-weighted index designed to measure equity market performance of mega-capitalization growth stocks in the United States.

The ETF has lost about -18.30% so far this year and was up about 7.24% in the last one year (as of 03/11/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $202.48 and $264.33.

The ETF has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 25.57% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 108 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vanguard Mega 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, MGK is a great 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 - Free Report) and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard Growth ETF has $74.48 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $176.82 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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