Launched on May 22, 2000, the iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF) 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 Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $133.33 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
Why Large Cap Growth
Large cap companies usually 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.
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. Something to keep in mind is the higher level of volatility that is affiliated with growth stocks. They are likely to outperform value stocks in strong bull markets but over the longer-term, value stocks have delivered better returns than growth stocks in almost all markets.
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 0.18%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.33%.
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 53.6% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Telecom round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 13.02% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT).
The top 10 holdings account for about 59.14% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
IWF seeks to match the performance of the Russell 1000 Growth Index before fees and expenses. The Russell 1000 Growth Index measures the performance of the large-capitalization growth sector of the U.S. equity market.
The ETF has gained about 8.91% so far this year and it's up approximately 29.38% in the last one year (as of 06/02/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $100.79 and $128.77.
The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 18.79% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 391 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
iShares Russell 1000 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, IWF is an outstanding 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 Index Fund ETF Shares (VUG) and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) track a similar index. While Vanguard Growth Index Fund ETF Shares has $232.71 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $493.94 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.03% and QQQ charges 0.18%.
Bottom-Line
Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds 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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iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).