- iShares Russell Midcap Index Fund (Symbol: IWR)
- iShares Russell Midcap Growth Index Fund (Symbol: IWP)
- iShares Russell Midcap Value Index Fund (Symbol: IWS)
iShares are the exchange traded funds managed by Barclays Global Fund Advisors, a subsidiary of Barclays Global Fund Investors, N.A., the largest manager of indexed products in the world which manages more than $800 billion in assets for institutions and individual investors across the globe. The provider of the indexes is Frank Russell Company, which produces a family of 21 U.S. equity indexes. Russell indexes are market cap-weighted and include only common stocks domiciled in the United States and its territories. Russell constructs its indexes based on an unbiased and complete ranking of each company's market capitalization. Rather than rely on subjective opinion or committee decision-making, Russell allows the market to determine which companies are included in the indexes, ensuring the purest representation of stock market performance.
"With the creation of iShares, Barclays Global Investors, N.A. opened up a whole new opportunity for investors to seek out targeted equity exposure," said Salvatore Sodano, chairman and CEO of the Amex. "We're thrilled to continue working with Barclay's and bringing more products to the marketplace."
"With the addition of the iShares Russell Midcap Index Funds, individuals, financial professionals and institutions can now target a portion of the Russell 1000 Index's market capitalization, enhancing their asset allocation and portfolio management opportunities," said Brad Zigler, Head of iShares Marketing and Investor Education. "These portfolios, like all iShares funds, give investors more choice and more flexibility," he added.
The Russell Midcap™ Index is a capitalization-weighted index consisting of the 800 smallest companies in the Russell 1000® Index. The Russell Midcap Index represents approximately 19% of the market capitalization of listed U.S. equities. The Fund uses a Representative sampling strategy to try to track the Index.
The Russell Midcap™ Growth Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization growth sector of the U.S. equity market. It is a subset of the Russell Midcap Index, representing approximately 50% of the total market capitalization of the Russell Midcap Index. The Index measures the performance of those Russell Midcap Index companies with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth. The Fund uses a Representative sampling strategy to try to track the Index.
The Russell Midcap™ Value Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market. It is a subset of the Russell Midcap Index, representing approximately 50% of the total market capitalization of the Russell Midcap Index. The Index measures the performance of those Russell Midcap companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth. The Fund uses a Representative sampling strategy to try to track the Index.
The Amex pioneered the concept of ETFs in 1993 with the introduction of trading in SPDRs® -- Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts®, an exchange-traded unit investment trust based on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index®. There are now 106 ETF products trading on the Amex, with assets currently totaling more than $80 billion. Both average daily volume and assets invested in Amex ETFs have doubled each year for the last six years.
