The iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH – Free Report) was launched on 05/22/2000, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $95.68 billion, making it the largest ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Why Mid Cap Blend
Mid cap companies, with market capitalization in the range of $2 billion and $10 billion, offer investors many things that small and large companies don’t, including less risk and higher growth opportunities. Thus they have a nice balance of growth potential and stability.
Typically holding a combination of both growth and value stocks, blend ETFs also demonstrate qualities seen in value and growth investments.
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 0.05%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.32%.
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.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector–about 22.10% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Emcor Group Inc (EME – Free Report) accounts for about 0.76% of total assets, followed by Williams Sonoma Inc (WSM – Free Report) and Illumina Inc (ILMN – Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 0.76% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
IJH 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-capitalization sector of the U.S. equity market.
The ETF has added roughly 0.96% so far this year and it’s up approximately 18.03% in the last one year (as of 01/06/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $53.67 and $67.87.
The ETF has a beta of 1.13 and standard deviation of 20.09% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 414 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
IShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, IJH is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box – Mid Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
The iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF (IWR – Free Report) and the Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO – Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF has $38.86 billion in assets, Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has $72.30 billion. IWR has an expense ratio of 0.19% and VO charges 0.04%.
Bottom-Line
While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.
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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