iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF

iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO) is a BlackRock index fund that tracks the Russell 2000 Growth Index. It holds more than 1,100 small US companies with faster sales growth and higher growth forecasts. It is large and spread thin, with $15.4 billion in net assets as of June 30, 2026. Its main drawback is cost. It charges 0.24% a year, the highest of the nine similar funds compared and more than double the 0.10% charged by Vanguard's VTWG, which follows the same strategy.

• Over the year to Nov 2, 2026, IWO returned +6.0%, 9th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +2.7% and its 10-year +10.6%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 39.8% and regained its old high 4.8 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2008 (-38.5%); its best was 2013 (+43.3%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 57.6% (Oct 10, 2007 to Mar 9, 2009), recovered by Dec 21, 2010.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 1,133 securities; the ten largest made up 6.04% of assets. It also reported 14.76% in a money-market fund, most likely cash collateral from lending out shares rather than uninvested money.

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors added a net $166.7M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +14.67%, +5.83%, +3.53%.

IWO tracks the Russell 2000 Growth Index from FTSE Russell, part of the London Stock Exchange Group. The index starts with the Russell 2000, a measure of small US companies. It keeps the ones that look more growth-oriented: higher price-to-book ratios (share price compared with the company's accounting net worth), faster past sales growth per share and higher forecast growth. As of March 31, 2026, this group made up about 66% of the Russell 2000's total market value. Healthcare, industrials and technology companies made up a significant portion.

The index rebalances every quarter, after the market closes on the third Friday of March, June, September and December. At each rebalance, no single company can be more than 22.5% of the index. Companies above 4.5% can't total more than 45% combined. In practice the fund is very spread out. It had 1,133 holdings as of June 30, 2026, and its top 10 made up about 6% of assets.

BlackRock uses representative sampling. This means it buys a sample of stocks chosen to match the index's overall traits, so it may not own every stock in the index. It must keep at least 80% of net assets in index stocks. It may use derivatives such as Russell 2000 stock index futures, and it may lend out securities worth up to one-third of its total assets. The prospectus lists portfolio turnover of 32%.

• IWO charges 0.24% a year, versus an average of 0.11% for the similar funds below (9th of 9, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $25 in the first year and $306 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

IWO adds small-company growth stocks that large-company funds barely hold, but it has fallen much further than the broad market in past downturns.

IWO adds small, fast-growing US companies to a portfolio, and that comes with sharp swings. It fell 57.6% from October 2007 to March 2009 and took about 21 months to get back to its old peak. It dropped 39.8% in the 2020 COVID crash and recovered in about five months. It lost 34.4% in 2022 and took 28 months to recover, by October 2024. Its worst calendar year was 2008, with a 38.5% loss. Someone who had to sell shares or draw income in a year like that would lock in deep losses.

It pays little income: the trailing yield was 0.47% as of October 29, 2026, paid quarterly. It costs 0.24% a year, which is $306 over 10 years in the SEC's standard $10,000 example and more than similar funds charge. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

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