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Should SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Growth ETF (MDYG) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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The SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Growth ETF (MDYG - Free Report) was launched on 11/08/2005, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $2.69 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Growth

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. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.

While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. Also, growth stocks are a type of equity that carries more risk compared to others. 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

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.15%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.93%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 25.20% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Williams Sonoma Inc (WSM - Free Report) accounts for about 1.63% of total assets, followed by Interactive Brokers Gro Cl A (IBKR - Free Report) and Rb Global Inc (RBA - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 12.31% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

MDYG seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Growth Index before fees and expenses. The S&P MidCap 400 Growth Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization growth sector in the U.S. equity market.

The ETF has lost about -4.48% so far this year and is down about -2.90% in the last one year (as of 03/25/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $77.91 and $94.90.

The ETF has a beta of 1.11 and standard deviation of 20.31% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 241 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Growth ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, MDYG is an outstanding 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 Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT - Free Report) and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $15.48 billion in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $17.48 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IWP charges 0.23%.

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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