Is the iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF the Smartest Investment You Can Make in March?

<p>March has not been kind to investors over the past couple of years. Last year, a struggling economy and the specter of tariffs caused the S&amp;P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) to drop about 6% for the month.</p>
<p>This year, the S&amp;P 500 hasn't been on a consistently upward trajectory wither. In fact, as of last week, the index was down about 2.7% for the year amid concerns about geopolitical tensions with Iran, higher gas prices, and rising unemployment rates. These factors are exacerbated by an overvalued stock market, particularly among large caps.</p>
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<p>As we saw last year, stocks stormed back in the second half of the year after a rough March and April. Can we expect a similar pattern again this year? It is impossible to know, but investors should be looking longer term, beyond the short-term volatility.</p>
<p>And with a longer-term view, investors may find this dip a good opportunity to buy an exchange-traded fund (<a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/03/09/contrarian-take-buy-vanguard-etf-march/?utm_source=yahoo-host-full&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=97313db5-aa4d-4762-9b79-ea58b6681602">ETF</a>) that is built for growth and is made up of stocks that are at attractive valuations.</p>
<p>That's why investors may want to consider an ETF that focuses on growth at a reasonable price (GARP) stocks, particularly the iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF (NYSEMKT: GARP).</p>
<h2>Growth, value, and quality</h2>
<p>The iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF is a smart investment right now because it has the capacity for long-term growth, but weeds out <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/types-of-stocks/value-stocks/overvalued-stocks/?utm_source=yahoo-host-full&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=97313db5-aa4d-4762-9b79-ea58b6681602">overvalued stocks</a> that might be more prone to steep losses during periods of sharp volatility.</p>
<p>The GARP ETF tracks the MSCI USA Quality GARP Index, which contains both large- and mid-cap growth stocks that meet certain value and quality screens.</p>
<p>The screens seek to ensure that the index, and the ETF by extension, includes stocks that are reasonably priced with long-term growth potential.</p>
<p>The stocks in the index are weighted by a proprietary system that develops a score based on market cap, growth characteristics, value, and quality.</p>
<p>The ETF currently holds 147 stocks, and the largest five holdings are Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, and semiconductor equipment manufacturer Lam Research.</p>
<h2>A history of beating the S&amp;P 500</h2>
<p>This ETF has consistently outperformed the S&amp;P 500 over time, as well as the Russell 1000.</p>
<p>Over the past 12 months, it has returned 32%, compared to returns of around 21.5% for both the S&amp;P 500 and the Russell 1000.</p>
<p>Over the past five years, it has had an average annualized return of 16% compared to 11.5% for the S&amp;P 500 and 10.7% for the Russell 1000.</p>