iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF | IJR |
by Zachary Evens
IShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF and iShares S&P SmallCap 600 ETF’s low fee, broad diversification, and profitability bias make them hard to beat. These funds track the S&P SmallCap 600 Index, which collects the smallest 600 stocks in the S&P 1500 composite index. Each constituent must meet initial market cap, liquidity, and profitability criteria to be eligible. The final portfolio is weighted by each stock’s float-adjusted market capitalization. Market-cap weighting is an efficient way to allocate the portfolio because it harnesses the market’s consensus opinion of each stock’s relative value. Faster-growing companies take up a larger share of the portfolio, while smaller companies that may be struggling take on a less important role. This helps rein in turnover and associated trading costs. The S&P SmallCap 600 Index operates on the smaller end of the small-cap market. Its average market cap was just over USD 2.5 billion as of April 2024, which is smaller than most index competitors. Small-cap stocks tend to be more volatile than their larger peers. However, the fund’s parent index includes only profitable names, which removes the lowest-quality small-cap stocks and contains volatility. While the smaller names that constitute this portfolio can be volatile, the strategy’s broad reach ensures that one stock’s misfortune should not derail the entire portfolio. It stashes just 6% of assets in its top 10 holdings. That breadth helped the S&P SmallCap 600 Index return a sturdy 8.5% annually in the 10 years through April 2024. Each fund returned slightly less owing to its respective fee. |
Morningstar Pillars | |
Pessoas | Above Average |
Parent | Above Average |
Processo | Above Average |