Looking for broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market? You should consider the Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on August 17, 2006.
The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $19.46 billion, making it one of the largest 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. Thus, companies that fall under this category provide a stable and growth-heavy investment.
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. Further, growth stocks have a higher level of volatility associated with them. 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 0.05%, making it the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.61%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, 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 27% of the portfolio. Industrials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Howmet Aerospace Inc (HWM) accounts for about 2.57% of total assets, followed by Quanta Services Inc (PWR) and Seagate Technology Holdings Plc (STX).
The top 10 holdings account for about 13.31% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
VOT seeks to match the performance of the CRSP U.S. Mid Cap Growth Index before fees and expenses. The CRSP U.S. Mid Cap Growth Index measures the investment return of mid-capitalization growth stocks.
The ETF has added about 7.86% so far this year and is up roughly 5.01% in the last one year (as of 09/08/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $249.63 and $314.02.
The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 17.93% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 128 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Vanguard Morningstar Mid-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, VOT is a great 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 iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF (IJK) and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP) track a similar index. While iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF has $10.75 billion in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $19.65 billion. IJK has an expense ratio of 0.16% 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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Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).