IMCG vs PWB

IMCGAiShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF

PWBCInvesco Large Cap 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.

PWB Smart beta before it had a name. Since 2005, PWB has run a rules-based Intellidex screen down to about 50 large-cap growth names instead of owning the whole growth index by size.

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.

PWB The Fund seeks capital appreciation by tracking the Dynamic Large Cap Growth IntellidexSM Index.

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.

• PWB Live since 2005, making it one of the longest-running rules-based growth ETFs on the market, with two decades of history through multiple full market cycles.invesco.com
• The Intellidex screen lands on roughly 50 names, so it behaves less like a cap-weighted growth index and more like a quant stock-picker in an index wrapper.
• A billion-dollar-plus fund with moderate trading activity and one clearly stated job: capital appreciation by tracking the Dynamic Large Cap Growth Intellidex Index.

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.

• PWB At 0.55% a year, it runs roughly three times the 0.18% median for its growth cohort, and the cheapest peers (VUG, SCHG) charge 0.03% to 0.04%.
• With about 50 holdings, single names and sector tilts carry real weight, so the ride can look quite different from a broad cap-weighted growth index.
• The stated mandate is capital appreciation, not income, and the fund has not been a regular distribution payer.

Full IMCG profile⁠

Full PWB profile⁠