Should iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF) Be on Your Investing Radar?

The iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF) was launched on May 22, 2000, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $127.30 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

Companies that find themselves in the large cap category typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Overall, they are usually a stable option, with less risk and more sure-fire cash flows than mid and small cap companies.

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. Additionally, growth stocks have a greater level of risk associated with them. When you consider growth versus value, growth stocks are usually the clear winner in strong bull markets but tend to fall flat in nearly all other environments.

Costs

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

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 0.35%.

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 Information Technology sector -- about 54.9% of the portfolio. Telecom and Industrials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 14.62% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL) and Alphabet Inc Class A (GOOGL).

The top 10 holdings account for about 56.14% 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 added roughly 4.88% so far this year and it's up approximately 13.82% in the last one year (as of 08/06/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $102.73 and $128.77.

The ETF has a beta of 1.17 and standard deviation of 19.33% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 372 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 $230.07 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $473.86 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.03% and QQQ charges 0.18%.

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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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