Launched on March 1, 2006, the Invesco S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth ETF (RFG) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $338.16 million, 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.
Growth stocks have higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. While these are expected to grow faster than the broader market, they also have higher valuations. Additionally, growth stocks have a greater level of risk associated with them. 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
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 0.35%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.08%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. 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 32.3% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Information Technology round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Sterling Infrastructure Inc (STRL) accounts for about 3.1% of total assets, followed by Digitalocean Holdings Inc (DOCN) and Carpenter Technology Corp (CRS).
The top 10 holdings account for about 22.93% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
RFG seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth Index before fees and expenses. The S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth Index measures the performance of securities that exhibit strong growth characteristics in the S&P MidCap 400 Index.
The ETF has gained about 13.72% so far this year and was up about 19.59% in the last one year (as of 07/21/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $49.24 and $64.59.
The ETF has a beta of 1.11 and standard deviation of 20.1% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 98 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Invesco S&P MidCap 400 Pure 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, RFG 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 Index Fund ETF Shares (VOT) and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP) track a similar index. While Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth Index Fund ETF Shares has $19.09 billion in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $20.18 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.05% and IWP charges 0.23%.
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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Invesco S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth ETF (RFG): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).