Can the FTSE 100 make investors rich? Many people probably write it off as a chugging dividend payer full of stodgy but well-established businesses.

The fast action is in the US market, some would argue, where mighty tech companies are defying the laws of valuation and rocketing higher without a care in the world.

Home-grown outperformers

However, the Footsie has within its ranks some powerful market movers that have been leaving the performance of the overall index far behind.

To my shame, I’ve been asleep at the wheel with one of them. But had I been more alert, this growing enterprise could have been boosting my portfolio.

It’s time to correct that error of omission and get focused on this growth darling with a view to getting in on the action. The business in question is InterContinental Hotels Group (LSE: IHG).

Who’d have thought it? I blind-sided myself by assuming the hotel operator was a cyclical leaf blowing in the winds of macro-economic change. Well, it is in a cyclical sector, of course, but that’s not the whole story. This juggernaut’s been expanding, and fast!

Just look at the chart for a summary of the growth story here.

If I’d been clever enough to have invested £5,000 in the shares 10 years ago, I’d now have about £19,350 with dividends on top of that.

Had I bunged that £5k into InterContinental Hotels Group shares 20 years ago, they’d now be worth around £60,500 plus all the dividends along the way.

That contrasts with the performance of the overall FTSE 100, which would have grown my money to a mere £9,850, plus dividends, over the past two decades.

More relentless progress

Is it too late to get involved with InterContinental Hotels Group shares? I don’t think so. Today’s third-quarter trading update shows more steady progress and a continuation of the firm’s growth strategy.

In the nine months to the end of September, revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased by 1.5% year on year. Meanwhile, in a measure of the size of this beast of a business, the company opened 17,500 rooms across 98 hotels in the period, which is “well over double the same period last year”.

The enterprise now operates all over the world, but that does add risks. For example, the company’s in places like China and other territories that may not share the UK’s general world view. So I see the company as vulnerable to the effects of potential geo-political tensions and economic shocks.

On top of that, there are cyclical uncertainties in the sector — a half-decent world recession would almost certainly cause a loss of earnings and a falling share price.

Nevertheless, with the rise and rise of the world’s affluent and financially sorted class of people, I reckon demand for the firm’s multiple hotel brands will likely continue to grow.

Meanwhile, InterContinental Hotel Group’s well-proven growth strategy may help it deliver further progress for shareholders over the coming years. So I’m digging in with deeper research now with a view to picking up a few of the shares to hold long term.