The iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF (IWR) was launched on 07/17/2001, 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 $41.15 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

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. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.

Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.19%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.06%.

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 17.10% of the portfolio. Financials and Information Technology round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Palantir Technologies Inc Class A (PLTR) accounts for about 1.99% of total assets, followed by Microstrategy Inc Class A (MSTR) and Arthur J Gallagher (AJG).

The top 10 holdings account for about 7.46% of total assets under management.

IWR seeks to match the performance of the Russell MidCap Index before fees and expenses. The Russell Midcap Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization sector of the U.S. equity market.

The ETF has gained about 2.61% so far this year and is up about 11.94% in the last one year (as of 06/13/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $74.88 and $95.52.

The ETF has a beta of 1.04 and standard deviation of 18.64% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 814 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

IShares Russell 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, IWR is a sufficient 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.