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Articles on IWF

  • US Equities Fall as Economic Instability Continues

    05/10/2011

    As investors continue to seek diversification in their portfolios, US Equity ETFs remain a popular choice. Equity ETFs allow for diversification across sectors and in regards to size of the company. The style of an ETF is determined by the market segment it occupied, generally falling into small, mid, or large-cap. Additionally, the potential for growth is taken into account which index style a stock should fit into. The Russell indices provide a strong benchmark for each style.

    With the market continually evolving and investors becoming more sophisticated, it is more necessary than ever to make sure each index properly tracks the markets it is intended to. The Russell indices have proven to be a favorite among investment managers, as almost half of all US equity investment products use the Russell Style Indices as their benchmarks.

    The table below shows the weekly returns of US equity ETFs that track a Russell Index:

    US Equity Style Trend

    05/06/2011

    We track asset class movement which are updated weekly.

    Performance data are based on closing prices on last Friday.

    Description Symbol 1 Week 4 Weeks 13 Weeks 26 Weeks 52 Weeks Trend Score
    Russell Largecap Growth IWF -1.68% 1.42% 2.73% 10.84% 26.86% 8.03%
    Russell Largecap Index IWB -1.72% 1.0% 2.96% 11.02% 24.11% 7.48%
    Russell Largecap Value IWD -1.69% 0.57% 3.15% 12.18% 22.55% 7.35%
    Russell Midcap Growth IWP -1.63% 1.82% 4.84% 16.38% 35.25% 11.33%
    Russell Midcap Indedx IWR -1.82% 1.1% 4.33% 14.23% 30.96% 9.76%
    Russell Midcap Value IWS -1.87% 0.56% 3.78% 13.38% 28.55% 8.88%
    Russell Smallcap Growth IWO -3.91% -0.37% 6.1% 16.76% 36.75% 11.07%
    Russell Smallcap Index IWM -3.61% -0.85% 4.47% 13.63% 28.99% 8.53%
    Russell Smallcap Value IWN -3.36% -1.48% 2.74% 11.48% 22.66% 6.41%

    In the past week, the US market suffered as slight retraction as many corporate earnings reports failed to meet Wall Street expectations. Additionally, general economic uncertainty reared its head in the market, driving investors out of US equities for the week Because of this, all ETFs in the US Equity Style Trend table were down for the week.

    Small cap ETFs were hit the hardest, as the iShares Russell 2000 Growth Index (IWO), the iShares Russell 2000 Index (IWM), and the iShares Russell 200 Value Index (IWN) all dropped over 3% in the past week. This follows traditional market behavior as small cap equties tend to react more harshly to swings in the market.

    The iShares Russell Midcap Growth Index (IWP), down 1.63%, and the iShares Russell 1000 Growth Index (IWF), down 1.68%, were least effected by the downturn in the market. In the near future, mid to large cap equity ETFs will likely provide more stability and better gains than smaller ETFs as the market remains in flux and succesptible to turn on a variety of daily economic news.


    Assets Class Symbols 05/04
    Trend
    Score
    04/27
    Trend
    Score
    Direction
    Russell Midcap Growth IWP 10.11% 12.57% v
    Russell Smallcap Growth IWO 9.75% 14.01% v
    Russell Midcap Indedx IWR 8.92% 10.9% v
    Russell Midcap Value IWS 8.24% 9.84% v
    Russell Largecap Growth IWF 7.69% 9.25% v
    Russell Smallcap Index IWM 7.41% 11.05% v
    Russell Largecap Value IWD 7.39% 8.15% v
    Russell Largecap Index IWB 7.29% 8.52% v
    Russell Smallcap Value IWN 5.7% 8.56% v
      Trend score is the average of 1,4,13,26 and 52 week total returns (including dividend reinvested).
    You can get a no cost widget for any of these tables which will automatically update weekly.


    Despite the weak performance in recent periods, every style in the table has exhibited strong growth over the past 52 weeks, mirroring a rise in the US equity market. Investing in ETFs that use Russell Indices as a benchmark provides an investor with a the assurance that his or her investment will maintain the risk and return possibilities that he or she signed up for. As with any investment, it is important to ensure that the goals of the ETF match your personal investment goals.

     

    Symbols: IWF, IWB, IWD, IWP, IWR, IWS, IWO, IWM, IWN

     

    Tickers: (NYSE: IWF), (NYSE: IWB), (NYSE: IWD), (NYSE: IWP), (NYSE: IWR), (NYSE: IWS), (NYSE: IWO), (NYSE: IWM), (NYSE: IWN)



    Disclosure:

    MyPlanIQ does not have any business relationship with the company or companies mentioned in this article. It does not set up their retirement plans. The performance data of portfolios mentioned above are obtained through historical simulation and are hypothetical.

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  • US Small Cap Growth ETFs Continue Strong Gains

    05/05/2011

     

    Small cap ETFs are generally made up of investments in companies with less than $1 billion in market capitalization. Small Cap Growth ETFs offer investors diversification throughout a wide range of industries and the potential for very high returns. At the same time, these ETFs tend to move up and down with the market and are subject to high levels of volatility.

    US Small Cap Growth ETFs, represented by the iShares Russell 2000 Small Cap Growth Index ETF (IWO), continued to outperform other styles of US Equity Assets with a one week return of 2.66% and a trend score of 13.93%. The small cap growth sector has also outperformed other US Equity Assets over a 52 week period, returning 24.31% in the past year. (See Russell Table)

    US Equity Style Return

    4/29/2011

     

    Assets Class Symbols 04/27
    Trend
    Score
    04/20
    Trend
    Score
    Direction
    Russell Smallcap Growth IWO 14.01% 13.06% ^
    Russell Midcap Growth IWP 12.57% 11.91% ^
    Russell Smallcap Index IWM 11.05% 9.92% ^
    Russell Midcap Indedx IWR 10.9% 10.15% ^
    Russell Midcap Value IWS 9.84% 9.03% ^
    Russell Largecap Growth IWF 9.25% 8.24% ^
    Russell Smallcap Value IWN 8.56% 7.26% ^
    Russell Largecap Index IWB 8.52% 7.38% ^
    Russell Largecap Value IWD 8.15% 6.96% ^

    The trend score is defined as the average of 1,4,13,26 and 52 week total returns (including dividend reinvested).

     

    U.S. Small Cap Growth

    04/29/2011
    Description Symbol 1 Yr 3 Yr 5 Yr Avg. Volume(K) 1 Yr Sharpe
    Vanguard Small Cap Growth ETF VBK 27.33% 10.31% 6.52% 248 121.29%
    iShares Russell 2000 Growth In IWO 26.68% 9.57% 4.89% 1,679 119.24%
    iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Growth IJT 24.47% 8.6% 5.17% 187 121.82%

    Among US Small Cap Growth ETFs, the Vanguard Small Cap Growth ETF (VBK) has shown the most strength, returning 27.33% in the past year. Others, including the iShares Russell 2000 Growth Index ETF (IWO) and the iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Growth ETF (UT) have also provided investors with returns higher than 24%.

    In recent periods, equities have experienced high levels of growth, leading many to speculate that a retraction is inevitable. If equity markets begin to lose value, US Small Cap Growth ETFs will certainly be impacted, as the performance of these ETFs correlate with general market conditions. Still, investors should expect strong returns from ETFs in this sector for the foreseeable future.


    Symbols: VBK, IWO, IJT, IWO, IWM, IWR, IWS, IWF, IWN, IWB, IWD

     

    Tickers: (NYSE: VBK) (NYSE: IWO) (NYSE: IJT) (NYSE: IWO) (NYSE: IWP) (NYSE: IWM) (NYSE: IWR) (NYSE: IWS) (NYSE: IWF) (NYSE: IWN) (NYSE: IWB) (NYSE: IWD)

     

    Disclosure: MyPlanIQ does not have any business relationship with the company or companies mentioned in this article. It does not set up their retirement plans. The performance data of portfolios mentioned above are obtained through historical simulation and are hypothetical.

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  • US Large Cap Blend ETFs Return Can Be Beaten As Equity Markets Continue Ascent

    05/05/2011

    Large Cap Blend ETFs provide access to both growth and value stocks, looking for high returns while hedging that risk with more stable securities. Large Cap ETFs invest across the entire spectrum of the US market. Stocks in the top 70% of the capitalization of the US equity market are defined as large cap.

    Despite strong returns, US Large Cap Blend ETFs, including the Russell Large Cap Index (IWB), have underperformed mid cap and small cap ETFs. With a one-year trend score of 8.52%, the Russell Large Cap Index falls towards the bottom of the US Style Return Table as seen below.

    US Equity Style Return

    4/29/2011

     

    Assets Class Symbols 04/27
    Trend
    Score
    04/20
    Trend
    Score
    Direction
    Russell Smallcap Growth IWO 14.01% 13.06% ^
    Russell Midcap Growth IWP 12.57% 11.91% ^
    Russell Smallcap Index IWM 11.05% 9.92% ^
    Russell Midcap Indedx IWR 10.9% 10.15% ^
    Russell Midcap Value IWS 9.84% 9.03% ^
    Russell Largecap Growth IWF 9.25% 8.24% ^
    Russell Smallcap Value IWN 8.56% 7.26% ^
    Russell Largecap Index IWB 8.52% 7.38% ^
    Russell Largecap Value IWD 8.15% 6.96% ^

    The trend score is defined as the average of 1,4,13,26 and 52 week total returns (including dividend reinvested).

    US Large Cap Blend

    4/29/2011

    Description Symbol 1 Yr 3 Yr 5 Yr Avg. Volume(K) 1 Yr Sharpe
    SPDR S&P 500 SPY 15.13% 1.42% 2.64% 169,849 83.79%
    iShares S&P 500 Index IVV 14.66% 2.18% 2.45% 2,992 79.99%
    Vanguard Total Stock Market VTI 17.54% 3.35% 3.48% 1,833 92.09%
    iShares Russell 1000 IWB 15.83% 2.66% 2.84% 886 86.04%
    Rydex S&P Equal Weight RSP 18.18% 5.79% 4.44% 1,115 94.46%
    iShares S&P 100 OEF 12.47% 0.94% 2.15% 883 67.2%
    Vanguard Large Cap VV 15.8% 2.78% 3.54% 223 85.55%
    Schwab U.S. Large Cap SCHX 15.95% NA NA 297 87.97%
    Vanguard S&P 500 VOO NA NA NA 311 NA

     

    Among US Large Cap Blend ETFs the Ryder S&P Equal Weight ETF (RSP) and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) have performed the strongest, offering one-year returns of 18.18% and 17.54% respectively. The ETF in the sector with the highest level of average volume, the SPDR S&P 500 Index, returned 15.13% in the past year, near the middle of the pack.

    While US Large Cap Blend ETFs have provided investors with strong returns in recent periods, many in the market believe that the sector is due for a retraction based on overheated valuations. For the time being, investors will likely find better returns elsewhere.

    Symbols: SPY, IVV, VTI, IWB, RSP, OEF, VV, SCHX, VOO, IWO, IWP, IWM, IWR, IWS, IWF, IWN, IWB, IWD


    Tickers: (NYSE: SPY) (NYSE: IVV) (NYSE: VTI) (NYSE: IWB)(NYSE: RSP)(NYSE: OEF)(NYSE: VV)(NYSE: SCHX)(NYSE: VOO) (NYSE: IWO) (NYSE: IWP) (NYSE: IWM) (NYSE: IWR) (NYSE: IWS) (NYSE: IWF) (NYSE: IWN) (NYSE: IWB) (NYSE: IWD)

     

    Disclosure: MyPlanIQ does not have any business relationship with the company or companies mentioned in this article. It does not set up their retirement plans. The performance data of portfolios mentioned above are obtained through historical simulation and are hypothetical.

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  • US Equities ignore World Tension -- Go Marching On

    03/04/2011

    Conventional wisdom would holdthat US Equities would have dropped over the last week based on the continuing tension in Libya. However, that has not proven to be the case. There trend of increasing risk appetite continues as the MidCap stocks are replaced with SmallCap stocks.

    Over the past few weeks we have seen Growth leading Blend leading Value. We also see SmallCap leading MidCap leading LargeCap.There was no move out of these top ETFs and continuing moves towards the SmallCap as the SmallCap blend closes in on MidCap Growth.

    Assets Class Symbols 03/02
    Trend
    Score
    02/23
    Trend
    Score
    Direction
    Russell Smallcap Growth IWO 14.83% 14.5% ^
    Russell Midcap Growth IWP 13.33% 13.19% ^
    Russell Smallcap Index IWM 13.29% 12.9% ^
    Russell Smallcap Value IWN 12.43% 12.08% ^
    Russell Midcap Index IWR 11.98% 12.37% v
    Russell Midcap Value IWS 11.56% 12.32% v
    Russell Largecap Growth IWF 10.61% 10.96% v
    Russell Largecap Index IWB 9.94% 10.46% v
    Russell Largecap Value IWD 9.94% 10.77% v

    The trend score is defined as the average of 1,4,13,26 and 52 week total returns (including dividend reinvested).

    With the Shiller, Buffet and Hussman all pointing to equities being overvalued, there is need for caution. There is a belief that the government will continue to support the recovery but we have not yet seen the measures needed to manage the debt really bite.While there is continued appetite for risk, and there clearly is, and with continued government backing, US Equties are likely to favor the smaller growth stocks. If you are just in Large Cap stocks, you are missing out on some of the growth and moving into the MidCap or SmallCap equities makes sense.

    For those who are heavily invested in US Equities, it is important to have other asset classes such as real estate and commodities as a hedge against likely corrections.

    Symbols:Normal,0,false,false,false,EN-US,X-NONE,X-NONE,MicrosoftInternetExplorer4,IWO,IWP,IWM,IWN,IWR,IWS,IWF,IWB,IWD,

    Disclosure:

    MyPlanIQ does not have any business relationship with the company or companies mentioned in this article. It does not set up their retirement plans. The performance data of portfolios mentioned above are obtained through historical simulation and are hypothetical.

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  • Initiating Tracking of US Subclasses

    02/22/2011

    We are initiating weekly tracking of the nine different styles or subclasses in the US Equity asset class. We use ETFs to represent each sub-class. We track returns over 1, 4, 13, 26, and 52 weeks and aggregate them to get a trend score. We then track the trend score to see the direction of each representative ETF in the subclass. By using an ETF from the same provider, we are attempting to normalize out performance of the ETF over the performance of the subclass.

     

    Assets Class

    Symbols

    02/18
    Trend
    Score

    02/11
    Trend
    Score

    Direction

    Russell Smallcap Growth

    IWO

    20.85%

    19.88%

    ^

    Russell Smallcap Index

    IWM

    18.7%

    17.58%

    ^

    Russell Midcap Growth

    IWP

    18.3%

    18.8%

    v

    Russell Smallcap Value

    IWN

    17.28%

    16.08%

    ^

    Russell Midcap Index

    IWR

    16.68%

    16.74%

    v

    Russell Midcap Value

    IWS

    15.91%

    15.66%

    ^

    Russell Largecap Growth

    IWF

    14.31%

    14.08%

    ^

    Russell Largecap Index

    IWB

    13.44%

    13.04%

    ^

    Russell Largecap Value

    IWD

    13.27%

    12.67%

    ^

    The trend score is defined as the average of 1,4,13,26 and 52 week total returns (including dividend reinvested).

    We note that most of the of the sub-classes are positive as the US bull market continues. We also note that Midcap is dropping in comparison to Smallcap - Midcap has been at the top of the list but is starting to be replaced by Smallcap. Finally we note that the order within a sub-class is Growth, Index (Blend), Value.

     

    Although the entire top three dropped compared to the prior week, the smalcaps dropped less than the midcap stock. The continuing bull market is moving investors away from the relative safety of large cap to the small cap stocks. The midcap, which had been a nice midway point, is being supplanted by the smallcap options as investors seek to maximize returns.

     

     

    The large cap stocks are solidly at the bottom of the table as investors look for higher returns. We note that the Largecap Value has the best performance in the short term even though it has had the poorest return over the longer time horizon.

     

    We would expect to see this picture to remain for some time unless the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa causes investors to look for safer US equities.

     

    Symbols:VCR,VDC,VIG,VWO,VDE,VEA,VGK,EDV,VFH,VEU,VSS,VUG,VHT,VYM,VIS,VGT,BIV,VCIT,BLV,VCLT,VGLT,VAW,MGC,MGK,MGV,VO,VOT,VOE,VMBS,VPL,VNQ,BSV,VGSH,VB,VBK,VBR,VOX,BND,VTI,VT,VPU,VTV,IJK,VBK,QQQQ,MDY,IWO,IJT,IJH,VB,VXF,IWP,IJR,VO,VOT,IWR,IJJ,VBR,IJS,IWN,RSP,IWM,IWS,VOE,VTV,IWC,SCHA,VTI,DIA,VUG,IWF,SPY,IWB,SDY,IVW,VIG,IVV,IWD,OEF,IVE,DVY,

     

    Disclosure:

    MyPlanIQ does not have any business relationship with the company or companies mentioned in this article. The performance data of portfolios mentioned above are obtained through historical simulation and are hypothetical.

     

     

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