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The Russell 1000 Growth Index is the growth-style segment of the Russell 1000, measuring large-cap U.S. companies that score highest on a composite of earnings growth forecasts, sales growth trend, and 12-month price momentum. It is maintained by FTSE Russell, a subsidiary of LSEG, and weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization. Like every index, it owns nothing: it is a number produced by applying a published methodology to a selected list of companies, revised on a schedule the provider sets.

What the Russell 1000 Growth Index measures

The Russell 1000 Growth Index measures the performance of the growth-style segment within the Russell 1000, which itself covers large-cap U.S. equities. The parent Russell 1000 contains the largest U.S. companies by float-adjusted market capitalization drawn from the broader Russell 3000 universe. The Growth sub-index then takes those companies and separates the ones that exhibit strong growth characteristics from those that do not.

Growth characteristics, in this context, are defined by a quantitative composite score rather than by any discretionary analyst judgment. FTSE Russell calculates a score for each company in the Russell 1000 and assigns it to the Growth index, the Value index, or both, depending on where that score falls in the distribution. The result is a rules-based, systematic classification that is transparent and replicable from the published methodology.

The index does not represent any fund or investment product. Funds that seek to track it hold actual securities; the index itself is a mathematical benchmark against which those funds are measured. Understanding this distinction matters because the index level reflects price performance across its constituents without accounting for the costs, tracking error, or cash drag that a real fund holding those securities would incur.

Provider and governance

FTSE Russell, a subsidiary of LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group), owns and administers the Russell 1000 Growth Index. FTSE Russell publishes the Russell US Indexes methodology document, which defines the full set of rules governing eligibility, style classification, weighting, and reconstitution. That document is the authoritative source for all rules described on this page.

The methodology is publicly available on the FTSE Russell website. Index providers occasionally revise their methodology documents; the version referenced for this page was current as of its published date. Readers who rely on methodology details for investment decisions should verify the current published version directly with FTSE Russell.

FTSE Russell also licenses the constituent list and index data to institutional subscribers. Swoopr does not hold a constituent data license and does not republish live index membership or current weights.

Eligible universe

The starting point for the Russell 1000 Growth Index is the Russell 1000 itself. To be eligible for the Russell 1000, a company must be incorporated in the United States, listed on an eligible U.S. exchange, and meet minimum liquidity and price requirements set by FTSE Russell. The Russell 1000 ranks eligible companies by float-adjusted market capitalization and covers the largest tier of the Russell 3000 universe.

Float-adjusted market capitalization differs from total market capitalization. Shares held by insiders, governments, or other entities that restrict public trading are subtracted from the share count before the calculation. This means the index reflects the value of shares that can actually change hands in the market, not the full theoretical value of all outstanding shares.

Once a company is in the Russell 1000, it becomes a candidate for style classification. The Growth index, the Value index, and the overlap zone between them together account for every constituent of the Russell 1000 at each reconstitution.

Weighting method

The Russell 1000 Growth Index uses float-adjusted market-cap weighting. Each constituent's weight in the index equals its float-adjusted market capitalization divided by the total float-adjusted market capitalization of all constituents in the index at that point in time.

A company with a larger float-adjusted market cap receives a larger weight. This means the index is dominated by its largest members: a company worth many times more than an average constituent will move the index far more than a smaller one. For investors tracking the index, this concentration in the largest names is a structural feature of the benchmark, not an accident.

Weights drift between reconstitutions as prices change. No rebalancing to fixed weights occurs between scheduled reconstitutions; the index lets prices run. Companies that appreciate faster than their peers grow their share of the index naturally until the next annual reconstitution resets membership.

Growth style scoring methodology

FTSE Russell assigns each company in the Russell 1000 a composite growth score using three equally important components:

  • I/B/E/S forecast medium-term growth: This factor captures analyst consensus estimates for future earnings growth, drawn from the Institutional Brokers' Estimate System (I/B/E/S) dataset. Companies with higher expected earnings growth rates receive higher scores on this component.
  • Sales per share historical growth: This factor measures trailing growth in sales revenue on a per-share basis. It captures whether a company has actually delivered revenue expansion, not just what analysts expect going forward.
  • 12-month price momentum: This factor uses the trailing total return over approximately the past year. Companies whose share prices have risen more than the index average over that period receive higher scores on this component.

FTSE Russell combines these three factors into a single composite growth score for each company. Companies with the highest composite scores are assigned entirely to the Growth index with a full weight equal to their float-adjusted market cap. Companies with the lowest composite scores fall into the Value index. Companies whose scores place them near the middle of the distribution receive partial weights in both the Growth and Value indexes simultaneously. These are the style-neutral overlap securities.

The overlap mechanism is a deliberate design choice. Without it, a company sitting just above or just below a hard style boundary would flip entirely from one index to the other with a very small change in its composite score. Large companies flipping in and out of a benchmark at reconstitution would force large trades in any fund tracking that benchmark. The partial-weight system smooths this effect: a company in the overlap zone contributes some of its float-adjusted market cap to Growth and the remainder to Value, and that split changes gradually as its score moves.

Reconstitution schedule

FTSE Russell reconstitutes the Russell US indexes annually each June. The process begins in May when FTSE Russell ranks all eligible U.S. companies by float-adjusted market cap. Results are announced in late May or early June, giving market participants time to anticipate the changes. The new membership takes effect at the end of June.

Newly listed companies, including IPOs and spinoffs that meet eligibility requirements, are reviewed and may be added to the Russell US indexes at quarterly intervals outside the main annual reconstitution. These additions occur in addition to the June reconstitution rather than replacing it. A company that lists early in the year may therefore enter the index before the next annual reconstitution if it qualifies under the quarterly review criteria.

Reconstitution is significant for fund managers tracking the index. When a large company enters or exits the Growth index, funds benchmarked against it must trade toward the new membership, which can temporarily move the prices of the stocks being added or removed. Investors who understand the reconstitution calendar can anticipate these pressures, even if they cannot predict which specific names will be affected before FTSE Russell announces them.

How investors use this index

The Russell 1000 Growth Index serves several practical purposes for different types of market participants.

ETF and mutual fund managers use it as a benchmark. A fund described as a large-cap U.S. growth fund may target the Russell 1000 Growth as its reference index, and its performance will be evaluated against the index return over matching periods. Investors evaluating such a fund compare its return and risk profile against this benchmark to assess whether they are receiving the growth-style exposure they expect.

Asset allocators use the Russell 1000 Growth alongside the Russell 1000 Value to analyze the style tilt of a portfolio. When a portfolio is more exposed to growth companies than to value companies relative to the full Russell 1000, that overweight shows up in the difference between the portfolio's performance and the parent index's performance. Style analysis of this kind is a standard tool in institutional portfolio oversight.

The index's sector composition provides a useful summary of where growth characteristics currently cluster in the U.S. equity market. Sectors such as technology, consumer discretionary, and communication services frequently carry large weights because the companies in those sectors tend to have higher earnings growth forecasts and stronger price momentum than the average Russell 1000 company. That composition shifts over time as sector trends change, which means the index's sector exposures at any given moment are not fixed by design.

Because the index is defined and maintained by a third party with a published methodology, it also plays a governance role: it gives funds and their investors a common, independently defined reference point that neither party controls. The methodology document establishes in advance how every rule operates, so disputes about whether a company should or should not be in the benchmark are resolved by reference to the published rules rather than to judgment calls made after the fact.

Comparisons with related indexes

Russell 1000 Growth versus Russell 1000

The Russell 1000 is the parent index. It includes all large-cap U.S. companies regardless of style. The Growth sub-index isolates the growth-oriented portion of that universe. Because growth-classified companies tend to trade at higher earnings multiples and concentrate in technology and technology-adjacent sectors, the Growth index typically has a higher price-to-earnings ratio and a more concentrated sector profile than the parent Russell 1000. The parent index, in contrast, blends growth, value, and overlap companies together, giving it a more diversified sector mix and a lower average valuation multiple.

Russell 1000 Growth versus Russell 1000 Value

The Growth and Value indexes are complementary slices of the same parent universe. Growth companies score highest on earnings growth forecasts, sales growth trend, and price momentum. Value companies score highest on book-to-price ratio and lowest on growth. The two indexes are not mirror images of each other: the overlap zone means a subset of companies contributes partial weight to both simultaneously, so the Growth and Value indexes together sum to slightly more than the full Russell 1000 by float-adjusted market cap. This overlap is intentional and reflects the reality that some companies do not fall cleanly into either style category at a given point in time.

Russell 1000 Growth versus S&P 500 Growth

Both indexes attempt to measure large-cap U.S. growth stocks, but they approach the problem differently. The parent universes differ: the Russell 1000 covers a broader set of U.S. large-cap companies than the S&P 500, which is a committee-selected subset. The scoring methodologies also differ: S&P Dow Jones Indices uses three factors weighted equally (earnings growth rate, sales growth rate, and momentum ratio) to classify S&P 500 constituents. FTSE Russell uses its own combination of I/B/E/S forecast growth, sales per share growth, and 12-month price momentum. Because the parent universes and the classification factors are both different, the two growth indexes may assign different weights to the same company. Portfolio managers and researchers who compare results between the two benchmarks should account for these structural differences.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who maintains the Russell 1000 Growth Index?

FTSE Russell, a subsidiary of LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group), maintains the Russell 1000 Growth Index and publishes the methodology that defines its eligibility, scoring, and weighting rules.

How does FTSE Russell decide which stocks belong in the Growth index?

FTSE Russell assigns each company in the Russell 1000 a composite growth score based on three factors: I/B/E/S forecast medium-term growth (analyst earnings growth expectations), sales per share historical growth (trailing sales trend), and 12-month price momentum. Companies with the highest scores are fully included in the Growth index. Companies in the middle range receive partial weights shared between the Growth and Value indexes.

What is the difference between the Russell 1000 Growth and Russell 1000 Value indexes?

The two indexes classify large-cap U.S. stocks by style. Growth includes companies with high composite scores on earnings growth forecasts, sales growth, and price momentum. Value includes companies with high book-to-price ratios and lower growth expectations. A subset of companies in the middle of the distribution receives partial weights in both indexes simultaneously, so the Growth and Value indexes together represent the full Russell 1000 with slight overlap.

How often is the Russell 1000 Growth Index reconstituted?

FTSE Russell reconstitutes the Russell US indexes annually each June. The ranking process begins in May, results are announced in late May or early June, and the new membership takes effect at the end of June. Newly listed companies such as IPOs and spinoffs can be added quarterly outside the main reconstitution window.

What sectors tend to dominate the Russell 1000 Growth Index?

Because the composite growth score rewards high earnings growth forecasts and strong price momentum, sectors such as technology, consumer discretionary, and communication services tend to carry large weights in the Russell 1000 Growth Index. The exact sector composition changes over time as company scores and market capitalizations shift. FTSE Russell publishes updated index data on its website.

Can a stock be in both the Russell 1000 Growth and Russell 1000 Value indexes at the same time?

Yes. FTSE Russell uses a partial membership system for companies whose composite scores place them near the boundary between growth and value. These overlap securities receive a portion of their weight in the Growth index and the remainder in the Value index. This prevents sharp threshold effects where a small score change moves a large company entirely from one index to another.

References

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