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

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Because the fund has amassed over $34.22 billion, this makes it the largest ETF in the Style Box - All Cap Growth. IUSG is managed by Blackrock. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P 900 Growth Index before fees and expenses.

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

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

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

IUSG's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.47%.

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 51.7% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Telecom and Financials round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Nvidia (NVDA) accounts for about 14.44% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL).

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 56.93% of IUSG's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 16.68% so far this year and was up about 19.09% in the last one year (as of 09/22/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $149.10 and $195.29

The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 18.96% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 400 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF (GARP) tracks MSCI USA QUALITY GARP SELECT INDEX and the iShares Morningstar Growth ETF (ILCG) tracks MORNINGSTAR US LARGE-MID CP BRD GRWTH ID. iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF has $3.22 billion in assets, iShares Morningstar Growth ETF has $3.23 billion. GARP has an expense ratio of 0.15% 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

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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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