Russell 1000

Russell 1000 is a stock market index that measures the performance of approximately 1,000 of the largest eligible companies in the United States by market capitalization. It is part of the Russell US Indexes and is calculated and maintained by FTSE Russell, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).

The Russell 1000 is widely used as a benchmark for large-cap U.S. equities. It is constructed using transparent, rules-based criteria rather than discretionary selection by an index committee.

Composition

The Russell 1000 consists of the largest eligible companies within the Russell 3000 universe.

A simplified relationship is:

$\text{Russell 3000}=\text{Russell 1000}+\text{Russell 2000}$

The Russell 1000 represents the large-capitalization segment, while the Russell 2000 represents the smaller companies within the Russell 3000.

FTSE Russell describes the Russell 1000 as representing the largest 1,000 companies in the Russell 3000 universe.

Russell 3000

The Russell 3000 is designed to represent approximately 98% of the U.S. equity market by market capitalization.

The Russell 1000 and Russell 2000 form the principal size segments of the Russell 3000:

$\text{Russell 3000}=\text{Large Cap}+\text{Small Cap}$

The Russell 1000 contains the largest companies, while the Russell 2000 contains the next group of smaller companies. ([lseg.com](

Market capitalization

Market capitalization is generally calculated as:

$\text{Market Capitalization}=\text{Share Price}\times \text{Shares Outstanding}$

Russell index construction uses market capitalization and additional eligibility and investability requirements to determine index membership.

Companies are ranked according to their market capitalization within the eligible U.S. equity universe.

Index weighting

The Russell 1000 uses a market-capitalization-weighted methodology, with constituent representation based on investable market capitalization.

A simplified representation of a constituent's index weight is:

$\text{Index Weight}=\frac{\text{Investable Market Capitalization of Constituent}}{\text{Total Investable Market Capitalization of Index}}\times 100\mathrm{\%}$

Consequently, larger companies generally have a greater influence on the index than smaller constituents.

Free float and investability

Russell index construction incorporates investability considerations when determining the representation of securities.

The relevant market value used for index weighting can therefore differ from a company's simple total market capitalization.

A simplified representation is:

$\text{Investable Market Capitalization}=\text{Market Capitalization}\times \text{Applicable Investability Adjustment}$

The actual methodology contains detailed rules governing eligibility, shares outstanding, free float, and other investability factors.

Rules-based methodology

The Russell 1000 uses a transparent, rules-based methodology.

Unlike indices that rely substantially on discretionary committee selection, Russell membership is determined primarily through defined eligibility and ranking rules.

FTSE Russell states that its Russell methodology is designed to be objective and based on the market rather than committee discretion.

Reconstitution

The Russell US Indexes undergo periodic reconstitution to reflect changes in the U.S. equity market.

Beginning in 2026, FTSE Russell moved the Russell US Indexes from an annual to a semi-annual reconstitution schedule.

The principal 2026 reconstitution occurred in June, with the newly reconstituted indexes becoming effective at the opening of trading on 29 June 2026.

Russell US Indexes also incorporate quarterly IPO additions and other maintenance events under the applicable methodology.

Movement between Russell indexes

Companies can move between Russell indexes as their relative market capitalization changes.

For example:

• a company that increases sufficiently in market capitalization may move from the Russell 2000 into the Russell 1000;
• a company that declines sufficiently may move from the Russell 1000 into the Russell 2000.

This mechanism allows the Russell US Indexes to adapt to changes in the relative size of companies.

Russell Top 200

The Russell Top 200 represents the largest companies within the Russell 1000.

It therefore forms a subset of the Russell 1000:

$\text{Russell Top 200}\subset \text{Russell 1000}$

The Russell Top 200 provides a benchmark for the largest segment of U.S. large-capitalization companies.

Russell Midcap

The Russell Midcap represents the mid-capitalization segment of the Russell US Indexes.

It is derived from the Russell 1000 and generally represents companies below the largest companies in the Russell 1000.

The relationship can be expressed as:

$\text{Russell Top 200}\subset \text{Russell 1000}$

and:

$\text{Russell Midcap}\subset \text{Russell 1000}$

The Russell Top 200 and Russell Midcap are therefore both segments derived from the Russell 1000, with their constituent boundaries determined by the applicable Russell methodology.

Russell 1000 Growth and Value

The Russell 1000 is divided into style segments through the Russell 1000 Growth Index and Russell 1000 Value Index.

These indices classify Russell 1000 companies according to characteristics associated with growth and value investment styles.

The two style indices provide investors with benchmarks for different segments of the large-cap U.S. equity market.

Russell 1000 Growth

The Russell 1000 Growth Index measures the performance of Russell 1000 companies exhibiting characteristics associated with growth stocks.

Growth characteristics can include factors related to:

• expected earnings growth;
• historical sales growth;
• price-to-book ratios;
• other variables specified by the Russell style methodology.

Russell 1000 Value

The Russell 1000 Value Index measures the performance of Russell 1000 companies exhibiting characteristics associated with value stocks.

Value characteristics can include factors related to:

• price-to-book ratios;
• earnings-to-price ratios;
• dividend yields;
• other variables specified by the Russell style methodology.

Russell 1000 Growth and Value relationship

The Russell 1000 Growth and Russell 1000 Value indices are derived from the Russell 1000.

A company can have exposure to both style segments depending on the Russell style methodology.

Therefore, the relationship should not be interpreted as a simple mutually exclusive classification of every company.

Russell 1000 and S&P 500

The S&P 500 and Russell 1000 are both widely used benchmarks for large-cap U.S. equities, but they use different construction methodologies.

The Russell 1000 contains approximately 1,000 companies and uses transparent, rules-based selection.

The S&P 500 contains a fixed target of approximately 500 companies and uses a committee-led selection process.

As a result, the two indices can contain different companies and can have different sector and constituent weights.

Index calculation

A simplified market-capitalization-weighted index calculation is:

$\text{Index Value}=\frac{\sum _{i=1}^n{\text{Investable Market Capitalization}}_i}{\text{Index Divisor}}$

The index divisor is adjusted for relevant corporate actions and other changes to preserve continuity in the index.

Price and total-return indices

The Russell 1000 can be represented through different return methodologies.

A price index reflects changes in constituent security prices.

A total-return index incorporates dividend income according to the applicable methodology.

A simplified relationship is:

$\text{Total Return}=\text{Capital Return}+\text{Dividend Return}$

The precise treatment of dividends depends on the particular index variant.

Investment products

The Russell 1000 is used as a benchmark and underlying index for financial products including:

• index funds;
• exchange-traded funds (ETFs);
• structured products;
• futures;
• options;
• other index-based derivatives.

FTSE Russell states that its indexes are used to create ETFs, tracker funds, structured products, and index-based derivatives.

Benchmark

The Russell 1000 can serve as a benchmark for portfolios investing in large-cap U.S. equities.

A simplified active-return calculation is:

$\text{Active Return}=\text{Portfolio Return}-\text{Benchmark Return}$

It can therefore be used to evaluate the performance of an actively managed large-cap U.S. equity portfolio.

Importance

The Russell 1000 is a major benchmark for large-capitalization U.S. equities. Its rules-based methodology provides broad exposure to the largest companies in the U.S. equity market, while its relationship with the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 provides a modular framework for representing different market-capitalization segments. It is widely used for benchmarking, portfolio construction, passive investment, asset allocation, and index-linked financial products.

See also

• Russell 2000
• Russell 3000
• Russell Top 200
• Russell Midcap
• Russell 1000 Growth Index
• Russell 1000 Value Index
• S&P 500
• FTSE Russell
• Stock market index
• Market capitalization
• Free float
• Index fund
• Exchange-traded fund
• Benchmark (finance)
• Portfolio management
• Passive management