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Is iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Growth category of the market, the iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 07/24/2000.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $18.10 billion, making it the largest ETF in the Style Box - All Cap Growth. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P 900 Growth Index.

The S&P 900 Growth Index measures the performance of the large and mid-capitalization growth sector of the U.S. equity market.

Cost & Other Expenses

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.04% for this ETF, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 0.69%.

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.

Representing 47.40% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Consumer Discretionary and Telecom round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) accounts for about 12.36% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA - Free Report) .

IUSG's top 10 holdings account for about 54.78% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 18.13% so far this year and was up about 32.85% in the last one year (as of 06/10/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $91.06 and $122.97.

IUSG has a beta of 1.06 and standard deviation of 20.86% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 477 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

Fidelity Blue Chip Growth ETF (FBCG - Free Report) tracks ---------------------------------------- and the iShares Morningstar Growth ETF (ILCG - Free Report) tracks MORNINGSTAR US LARGE-MID CP BRD GRWTH ID. Fidelity Blue Chip Growth ETF has $1.73 billion in assets, iShares Morningstar Growth ETF has $2.28 billion. FBCG has an expense ratio of 0.59% and ILCG charges 0.04%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - All Cap Growth.

Bottom Line

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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