Mid-Cap ETFs that You Should Know About

When we listen to the news, we mostly hear about large, brand-name companies. However, mid-sized companies and related ETFs have shown some decent gains as the economy rights itself.

According to Will McClatchy for ETFZone, overweighting or underweighting mid-caps coming out of a bear market can be a good play for an ETF portfolio, depending on the economic conditions, and mid-caps are relatively less volatile than small-caps.

There is also the chance that a larger company may acquire a mid-cap company, which would be to the benefit of mid-cap shareholders.

Stock-picking can be difficult; how does anyone know which small- or mid-cap will graduate to large-cap status? Mid-cap ETFs can give you a diversified play on the entire asset class.

Potential investors looking into mid-cap ETFs should know that the definition of “mid-cap” varies from different fund providers. In general, though, it’s a company with a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion.

Major mid-cap ETFs include:

• Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (NYSEArca: VO)
• iShares S&P MidCap 400 (NYSEArca: IJH)
• iShares Russell Midcap ETF (NYSEArca: IWR)
• SPDR Dow Jones Wilshire Mid Cap ETF (NYSEArca: EMM)
• SPDR MidCap ETF (NYSEArca: MDY)

Additionally, there are mid-cap ETFs that target growth or value:

• iShares Morningstar Mid Core ETF (NYSEArca: JKG)
• iShares Morningstar Mid Growth ETF (NYSEArca: JKH)
• iShares Morningstar Mid Value ETF (NYSEArca: JKI)
• iShares Russell Midcap Growth ETF (NYSEArca: IWP)
• iShares Russell Midcap Value ETF (NYSEArca: IWS)
• iShares S&P MidCap 400 Growth ETF (NYSEArca: IJK)
• iShares S&P MidCap 400 Value ETF (NYSEArca: IJJ)
• Rydex ExpressShares S&P MidCap 400 Pure Growth ETF (NYSEArca: RFG)
• Rydex ExpressShares S&P MidCap 400 Pure Value ETF (NYSEArca: RFV)
• Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF (NYSEArca: VOT)
• Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF (NYSEArca: VOE)
• SPDR Dow Jones Wilshire Mid Cap Growth ETF (NYSEArca: EMG)
• SPDR Dow Jones Wilshire Mid Cap Value ETF (NYSEArca: EMV)

Then, there are the leveraged ETFs that provide an extra kick to benchmark performance results. Investors should know the risks involved when trading leveraged funds.

• ProShares Ultra Russell MidCap Growth ETF (NYSEArca: UKW)
• ProShares Ultra Russell MidCap Value ETF (NYSEArca: UVU)
• ProShares UltraShort Russell MidCap Growth ETF (NYSEArca: SDK)
• ProShares UltraShort Russell MidCap Value ETF (NYSEArca: SJL)
• Rydex ExpressShares 2x S&P MidCap 400 ETF (NYSEArca: RMM)

And lastly, there are mid-cap ETFs that utilize financial ratios to beat popular indexes:

• RevenueShares Mid Cap ETF (NYSEArca: RWK)
• WisdomTree MidCap Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: DON)
• WisdomTree MidCap Earnings ETF (NYSEArca: EZM)

Max Chen contributed to this article.