Should iShares Russell Top 200 Value ETF (IWX) Be on Your Investing Radar?

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Large Cap Value segment of the US equity market, the iShares Russell Top 200 Value ETF (IWX) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on September 22, 2009.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $4.03 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Value segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Value

Large cap companies typically 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.

Carrying lower than average price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios, value stocks also have lower than average sales and earnings growth rates. Considering long-term performance, value stocks have outperformed growth stocks in almost all markets; however, they are more likely to underperform growth stocks in strong bull markets.

Costs

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.2%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.36%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, 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 21.2% of the portfolio. Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Amazon.com Inc (AMZN) accounts for about 8.37% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT).

The top 10 holdings account for about 38.9% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

IWX seeks to match the performance of the Russell Top 200 Value Index before fees and expenses. The Russell Top 200 Value Index is a style factor weighted index that measures the performance of the largest capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market.

The ETF has added about 23.78% so far this year and is up about 32.76% in the last one year (as of 08/26/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $86.49 and $113.17.

The ETF has a beta of 0.77 and standard deviation of 12.03% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 156 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

iShares Russell Top 200 Value 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, IWX is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) and the Vanguard Morningstar Value ETF (VTV) track a similar index. While Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has $112.07 billion in assets, Vanguard Morningstar Value ETF has $193.81 billion. SCHD has an expense ratio of 0.06% and VTV charges 0.03%.

Bottom-Line

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are 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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