IMCG vs IWY

IMCGAiShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF

IWYBiShares Russell Top 200 Growth ETF

In short

IMCG Growth investing usually means megacaps. IMCG works the middle of the market instead: roughly 300 mid-cap growth names, indexed since 2004, for six basis points a year.

IWY IWY takes the growth half of America's largest companies: about 100 stocks from the Russell Top 200 Growth Index, screened on growth forecasts and sales growth. Big-company growth, and only big-company growth.

Stated mandate

IMCG The Fund seeks to track an index of U.S. mid-capitalization equities with growth characteristics. Its strategy uses representative sampling and generally invests at least 80% of assets in securities from the Underlying Index.

IWY The fund seeks to track an index of large-capitalization U.S. equities selected for growth characteristics, including growth forecasts and sales growth. It provides targeted exposure to U.S. large-cap growth stocks.

Why people hold it

• IMCG 0.06% a year, one third of the 0.18% median for its growth-fund peer group. Mid-cap indexing at large-cap-index prices.
• The growth leaderboard is stacked with large-cap funds (VUG, SCHG, SPYG, VONG). IMCG covers the middle instead, holding about 300 mid-cap growth names.
• Sticks close to the Morningstar mid-cap growth index it follows, one of the tighter tracking jobs in its peer group.
• Running since 2004 under the iShares roof, with a multi-billion-dollar asset base behind it.

• IWY The mandate is literal. An index of large-cap US names selected on growth forecasts and sales growth, and a portfolio that stays tightly matched to it.ishares.com
• About 100 holdings, so you get concentrated growth exposure rather than a diluted slice of the whole market wearing a growth label.
• Live since 2009 and a multi-billion-dollar fund under the iShares roof, with the operational track record that implies.

Worth knowing

• IMCG Moderately traded rather than heavily traded, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the megacap growth ETFs sitting beside it in the category.
• This is a size-and-style bet. Mid-cap growth companies tend to move more sharply than the broad market, in both directions.
• Distributions land quarterly, but a growth screen is not built around income.

• IWY At 0.20% a year it costs more than the cheapest large-cap growth trackers: VUG charges 0.03% and SCHG 0.04%.
• A roughly 100-stock big-cap growth roster concentrates the outcome in a handful of household names. It rides with them in both directions.
• Distributions arrive quarterly, but a growth screen leans toward companies that reinvest rather than pay out. Income is a byproduct here.

Full IMCG profile⁠

Full IWY profile⁠