Data sourced from Dakota Marketplace, the global LP and GP intelligence platform trusted by thousands of investment professionals. Learn More | Book a Demo
Every quarter, institutional investment managers with $100 million or more in 13(f) securities report their holdings to the SEC (SEC Form 13F FAQ). The filings are public but not built for prospecting: each is one firm's list of issuer names, share counts and values, with no asset class tags and no quarter-over-quarter comparison. Finding which RIAs hold a given ETF means pulling filings firm by firm and doing the matching yourself.
Dakota Marketplace does that work for you. Its 13F tab holds 2,621,000+ holdings, including 938,000+ ETF positions, searchable by ticker, asset class and product structure, with Status fields that flag each position as New, Increased, Decreased or Sold-Out versus last quarter.
We used that data to find which US mid cap ETFs the most RIAs actually own. Two funds are nearly tied at the top: Vanguard Mid-Cap (VO) is held by 141 RIAs for the quarter ending December 31, 2025, and iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap (IJH) by 138. No other mid cap ETF reaches 70. Mid caps drew new attention in 2025, with VO alone taking in $6.3 billion and cracking the top 10 ETFs by inflows (etf.com, 2025).
In this article, we’ll rank the 10 mid cap ETFs held by the most RIAs, show where the dollars concentrate, and break down what a two-fund mid cap core means for managers selling mid cap strategies.
The Top 10 US MId Cap ETFs Held by RIAs
Ranked by the number of distinct RIAs reporting a position in 13F filings for the quarter ending December 31, 2025.
|
Rank
|
Ticker
|
ETF
|
Category
|
RIA holdings
|
|
1
|
VO
|
Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF
|
Mid cap blend
|
141
|
|
2
|
IJH
|
iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF
|
Mid cap blend
|
138
|
|
3
|
IWR
|
iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF
|
Mid cap blend
|
69
|
|
4
|
VOE
|
Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF
|
Mid cap blend
|
65
|
|
5
|
MDY
|
SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust
|
Mid cap blend
|
60
|
|
6
|
VOT
|
Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF
|
Mid cap growth
|
55
|
|
7
|
SCHM
|
Schwab U.S. Mid-Cap ETF
|
Mid cap blend
|
54
|
|
8
|
IWP
|
iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF
|
Mid cap growth
|
48
|
|
9
|
SPMD
|
SPDR Portfolio S&P 400 Mid Cap ETF
|
Mid cap blend
|
41
|
|
10
|
IJK
|
iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF
|
Mid cap growth
|
41
|
Source: Dakota Marketplace 13F holdings data, quarter ending December 31, 2025. SPMD and IJK tie at 41 RIAs and are ordered by RIA dollars held.
What the Ranking Shows
1. Two Funds Anchor the Category (VO and IJH, 186 RIAs)
VO and IJH are each held by about twice as many RIAs as any other mid cap ETF. 186 RIAs hold at least one of them, and 93 hold both. Together they account for about 42% of RIA mid cap ETF dollars.
The two track different benchmarks. VO follows the CRSP US Mid Cap index, and IJH follows the S&P MidCap 400, which screens for profitability. Across all S&P 400 funds, including IJH, MDY and SPMD, 190 RIAs hold at least one, compared with 156 for Vanguard’s mid cap funds and 99 for Russell mid cap funds.
2. Mid Cap Is Rarely Held on Its Own (232 of 242 RIAs Also Own Small Cap)
242 RIAs hold at least one US mid cap ETF, with $3.6B in holdings. That is fewer RIAs and less money than small cap, where 273 RIAs hold $5.5B.
Almost every mid cap holder also owns small caps: 232 of the 242. Only 10 RIAs hold a mid cap ETF without a small cap ETF. For most RIAs, mid cap is one piece of a broader “beyond large cap” allocation, not a standalone sleeve.
3. Growth and Value Are Evenly Split (141 vs. 136 RIAs)
Unlike small cap, where RIAs lean hard toward value, mid cap is balanced. 141 RIAs hold a mid cap growth ETF and 136 hold a mid cap value ETF, and 102 hold both. Value draws slightly more money, at $705M against $581M for growth.
Vanguard Mid-Cap Value (VOE) ranks fourth with 65 RIAs, the most widely held style fund in the category. Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth (VOT) follows at 55.
Want to see which RIAs in your territory hold these funds? Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace.
Breadth vs. Dollars: Where RIA Assets Concentrate
The ETFs held by the most RIAs are not always the ones holding the most RIA money. RIAs reported $3.6B in US mid cap ETF holdings for the quarter ending December 31, 2025, and the top 10 funds account for $2.7B of it, about 74%.
|
Ticker
|
ETF
|
RIA holding
|
RIA holdings
|
|
IJH
|
iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF
|
138
|
$921M
|
|
VO
|
Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF
|
141
|
$586M
|
|
SCHM
|
Schwab U.S. Mid-Cap ETF
|
54
|
$244M
|
|
VOE
|
Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF
|
65
|
$237M
|
|
SPMD
|
SPDR Portfolio S&P 400 Mid Cap ETF
|
41
|
$175M
|
|
VOT
|
Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF
|
55
|
$130M
|
VO has three more holders, but IJH holds far more money. The average RIA position in IJH is $6.7M, compared with $4.2M in VO. Lower-cost share classes also draw solid tickets: SCHM averages $4.5M and SPMD $4.3M.
iShares Russell Mid-Cap (IWR) goes the other way. It ranks third by holders, but its average position is just $1.3M, and it holds only $88M in total. MDY, the original S&P 400 ETF, averages $2.0M, while the cheaper IJH and SPMD draw larger positions.
Source: Dakota Marketplace 13F holdings data, quarter ending December 31, 2025.
What This Means for Investment Firms Pitching RIAs
Mid cap is the most overlooked part of the US equity market for many RIAs. It is usually held through one or two index funds alongside a small cap position, which leaves room for managers who can make the case for a dedicated sleeve.
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Pitch against the core, not instead of it. An RIA holding VO or IJH is unlikely to sell it. Show how your strategy fits beside a passive mid cap position: a quality or valuation screen, a concentrated portfolio, or an active return driver the index does not offer.
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Pitch mid cap alongside small cap. 232 of the 242 mid cap holders also own small caps. Frame your strategy as part of the RIA’s broader allocation below large cap, or position a SMID strategy as a way to cover both in one sleeve.
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Lead with the style the RIA already holds. Growth and value are evenly split in mid cap. Check whether an RIA holds VOE or VOT before the first call and lead with the matching story.
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Find the 42 RIAs with small caps but no mid caps. They have already moved beyond large cap but skipped the middle. That is a natural opening for a mid cap or SMID strategy.
Turn 13F Holdings Into a Prospect List
Every number in this post came from the 13F tab in Dakota Marketplace. Members filter 2,621,000+ holdings by account name, investment strategy, ticker, asset class, sub-asset class, product structure, fund balance range and filing period, and switch between a By Investor and a By Fund view.
Seven new fields make the data faster to act on:
- Quarter-over-quarter change on any holding: Previous No. of Shares, Previous Quarter Value and Status (New, Increased, Decreased, Equal Shares or Sold-Out) show who is adding or trimming a position, with no filing to open and no math to do.
- ETF exposure on every account: ETF AUM, ETF AUM %, Active ETF AUM and Passive ETF AUM answer "does this RIA use ETFs, and how much?" right on the account page.
That gives investment firms three ways to build a sharper list:
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Find who holds a competitor's fund. Search a ticker and pull every firm reporting it.
-
Spot momentum. Filter by Status to see which RIAs bought or added to a position last quarter, and which sold out.
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Target real holdings, not stated mandates. An RIA that leans active in its ETF book is a very different conversation than one that runs almost entirely passive.
Members can now build and save their own 13F lists with Create a List and My Lists, then export any list to Excel to share or print.
Find the RIAs Behind the Holdings
Dakota Marketplace tracks 8,700+ RIAs and 48,300+ RIA contacts, with 13F holdings attached to each firm profile. Filter by ETF ticker or asset class held, by RIA AUM, by metro area, or by decision-maker title such as CIO or portfolio manager.
Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace to know what an RIA already owns before you pitch what it should add.
