Is iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Making its debut on 07/24/2000, smart beta exchange traded fund iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Growth category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

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On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.

Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.

The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $23.62 billion, making it the largest ETF in the Style Box - All Cap Growth. IUSG, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P 900 Growth Index.

The S&P 900 Growth Index measures the performance of the large and mid-capitalization growth sector of the U.S. equity market.

Cost & Other Expenses

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.04%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 0.59%.

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.

Representing 39.4% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Telecom and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 12.24% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Meta Platforms Inc Class A (META).

IUSG's top 10 holdings account for about 49.02% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF return is roughly 9.16% so far, and it's up approximately 16.91% over the last 12 months (as of 07/04/2025). IUSG has traded between $113.67 and $151.73 in this past 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 1.12 and standard deviation of 20.61% for the trailing three-year period, which makes IUSG a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 458 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF (QGRO) tracks AMERICAN CENTURY U.S. QUALITY GROWTH IND and the iShares Morningstar Growth ETF (ILCG) tracks MORNINGSTAR US LARGE-MID CP BRD GRWTH ID. American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF has $1.75 billion in assets, iShares Morningstar Growth ETF has $2.75 billion. QGRO has an expense ratio of 0.29% and ILCG changes 0.04%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - All Cap Growth

Bottom Line

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 Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG): ETF Research Reports

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

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