Should Vanguard S&P MidCap 400 ETF (IVOO) Be on Your Investing Radar?
Looking for broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market? You should consider the Vanguard S&P MidCap 400 ETF (IVOO), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/09/2010.
The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $1.57 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Why Mid Cap Blend
With market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion, mid cap companies usually contain higher growth prospects than large cap companies, and are considered less risky than their small cap counterparts. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.
Blend ETFs are aptly named, since they tend to hold a mix of growth and value stocks, as well as show characteristics of both kinds of equities.
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 0.10%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.16%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 18.90% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Signature Bank/new York Ny (SBNY) accounts for about 0.71% of total assets, followed by Molina Healthcare Inc. (MOH) and Factset Research Systems Inc. (FDS).
The top 10 holdings account for about 5.13% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
IVOO seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Index before fees and expenses. The S&P MidCap 400 Index measures the performance of the mid-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index composed of 400 domestic common stocks.
The ETF has lost about -2.37% so far this year and is up roughly 14.80% in the last one year (as of 01/17/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $157.72 and $196.68.
The ETF has a beta of 1.17 and standard deviation of 27.17% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 402 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Vanguard S&P MidCap 400 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, IVOO is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
The Vanguard MidCap ETF (VO) and the iShares Core S&P MidCap ETF (IJH) track a similar index. While Vanguard MidCap ETF has $54.38 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P MidCap ETF has $67.29 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IJH charges 0.05%.
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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Vanguard S&P MidCap 400 ETF (IVOO): ETF Research Reports
Molina Healthcare, Inc (MOH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
FactSet Research Systems Inc. (FDS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Signature Bank (SBNY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
iShares Core S&P MidCap ETF (IJH): ETF Research Reports
Vanguard MidCap ETF (VO): ETF Research Reports
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