This iShares ETF Offers Broad Value

Key Morningstar Metrics for iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF

• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Silver
• Process Pillar: Above Average
• People Pillar: Above Average
• Parent Pillar: Above Average

The iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF IWD offers a well-diversified pool of large- and mid-cap value stocks at a low cost.

The exchange-traded fund replicates the Russell 1000 Value Index, which holds stocks representing the cheaper half of the Russell 1000 Index. The parent index selects the largest 1,000 stocks—roughly 93% of the investable US stock market—and weights them by market cap. Stocks fall into the value index if they exhibit low valuations and poor growth prospects.

Focusing on companies with strong value characteristics can leave this fund vulnerable to value traps: stocks that have low valuations and projected growth because they are poor investments, not hidden gems. The fund’s market-cap weighting mitigates some of that risk by favoring larger, more stable stocks. In addition, market-cap-weighting harnesses the market’s collective view of each stock’s relative value and typically requires lower turnover, reducing transaction costs. As a result, this fund’s turnover is a fraction of the average fund’s in the large-value Morningstar Category.

The fund has a broader reach than most of its peers. It held around 870 stocks as of June 2025, nearly triple the amount that its average peer holds. It is less concentrated, with 17% of its assets in its top 10 holdings. That’s 12 percentage points less than the category average. Since the fund dives deeper into the pool of US stocks than most large-value funds, it takes a different shape. The fund’s average market cap is lower than the category average because it holds more mid-cap stocks than its average peer.

Despite its size differences, the fund’s sector allocations closely track its average peer. No sector deviated by more than 3 percentage points as of June 2025, and none by more than 5 percentage points in the decade leading up to 2025. The largest sector was financial services, holding stocks like Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B and JPMorgan Chase JPM. The fund’s value characteristics, such as price/earnings and dividend yield, closely track the category average as well. Avoiding major sector and value-growth bets amplifies the impact of its low fee, which should aid category-relative performance.

The fund trailed its average peer by 9 basis points annualized over the past 10 years through June 2025. The fund didn’t out- or underperform the category average by more than 3 percentage points in any calendar year during that span.

iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF: Performance Highlights

The iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF outpaced the large-value category by 54 basis points annualized from the fund’s inception in 2000 through June 2025. The fund experienced a bit more volatility than its peers but clocked higher risk-adjusted returns. The fund’s performance tends to follow the category. Although it slightly underperformed recently, that should wash out over longer periods.

When the market fell during the global financial crisis in 2007-09, the fund stayed fully invested and fell further than many peers that moved into cash or low-risk companies. However, its fully invested stance became an advantage when the market rebounded, helping the fund outperform the category average every year from 2010 through 2016.

The financial-services sector has been a significant factor in the fund’s performance. Strong contributions from Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase have made an impact. The fund holds very little cash and charges a low fee, which should boost long-term performance.