iShares MSCI Intl Momentum Factor ETF

The iShares MSCI Intl Momentum Factor ETF (IMTM) tracks the MSCI World ex USA Momentum Index. The index holds large and mid-size companies in developed markets outside the US whose shares have risen more than their peers. It leans toward recent winners and reshuffles every quarter. At 0.30% a year, it costs more than broad international funds such as IDEV (0.04%) and the rival momentum fund IDMO (0.25%).

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, IMTM returned +13.0%, 9th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +8.6% and its 10-year +10.1%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 29.8% and regained its old high 3.6 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-16.8%); its best was 2025 (+34.5%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 32.6% (Nov 8, 2021 to Sep 27, 2022), recovered by Mar 6, 2024.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 314 securities; the ten largest made up 22.86% of assets.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $289.6M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +1.90%, +1.75%, -2.11%.

MSCI starts with its MSCI World ex USA Index. That index covers roughly the largest 85% of stock market value in developed countries outside the US. MSCI then scores each stock on "momentum" (how strongly its price has been rising). The score is risk-adjusted: it takes the stock's return over the past 6 and 12 months, beyond what a risk-free investment would have paid, and divides it by how much the stock's weekly price has swung over three years. The two results are blended into one score.

Each stock's weight is its momentum score multiplied by its size in the parent index, with no company above 5%. The index is rebuilt every quarter. To limit trading, a 50% buffer means a stock moves only halfway toward its new weight, though stocks dropped from the index are sold in full. As of July 31, 2025, the index held 301 companies in 21 countries, with large shares in financials and industrials.

BlackRock does not hold every stock. It uses "representative sampling" (holding a mix that behaves like the index) and keeps at least 80% of assets in index stocks or close equivalents. The fund may also hold a small amount of stock index futures and may lend out up to one-third of its assets. Turnover was 109%, which adds trading costs.

• IMTM charges 0.3% a year, versus an average of 0.14% for the similar funds below (7th of 9, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $31 in the first year and $381 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It concentrates on international stocks with strong recent price gains and costs more than broad international index funds, so it fits better as a smaller add-on than as a core position.

IMTM tracks the MSCI World ex USA Momentum Index, which favors international stocks with the strongest recent price gains. It launched in 2015, so it has no 2008 crisis record. It fell 29.8% in the 2020 COVID crash but recovered by July 2020. In the 2022 bear market it fell 29.6%. Its deepest drop, 32.6% from November 2021, took until March 2024 to recover. Its worst calendar year was 2022, at -16.65%. Selling shares for income during stretches like these would lock in losses.

It paid out 4.51% of its price over the 12 months to October 27, 2026, in two payments a year, so income arrives in lumps. The 0.30% expense ratio is above the 0.14% average of similar funds. On $10,000, the SEC's standard example shows $381 in costs over 10 years. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should weigh the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.