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Should SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Growth ETF (SLYG) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Launched on 09/25/2000, the SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Growth ETF (SLYG - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $2.20 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Small Cap Growth

There's a lot of potential to investing in small cap companies, but with market capitalization below $2 billion, that high potential comes with even higher risk.

Qualities of growth stocks include faster growth rates compared to the broader market, as well as higher valuations and higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. Also, growth stocks are a type of equity that carries more risk compared to others. Even though growth stocks are more likely to outperform their value counterparts in strong bull markets, value stocks have a record of delivering better returns in almost all markets than growth stocks.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.15%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.19%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector--about 19.80% of the portfolio. Industrials and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Exlservice Holdings Inc. (EXLS - Free Report) accounts for about 1.35% of total assets, followed by Sm Energy Company (SM - Free Report) and Ufp Industries Inc. (UFPI - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 11.6% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

SLYG seeks to match the performance of the S&P SmallCap 600 Growth Index before fees and expenses. The S&P SmallCap 600 Growth Index measures the performance of the small-capitalization growth sector in the U.S. equity market. The selection universe for the S&P SmallCap 600 Index includes all U.S. common equities listed on the NYSE, NASDAQ Global Select Market, NASDAQ Select Market and NASDAQ Capital Market with market capitalizations between $250 million and $1.2 billion.

The ETF has lost about -0.26% so far this year and is down about -21.92% in the last one year (as of 01/04/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $67.45 and $91.22.

The ETF has a beta of 1.11 and standard deviation of 31.13% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 339 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Growth ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, SLYG is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Growth area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO - Free Report) and the Vanguard SmallCap Growth ETF (VBK - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF has $9.44 billion in assets, Vanguard SmallCap Growth ETF has $11.83 billion. IWO has an expense ratio of 0.23% and VBK charges 0.07%.

Bottom-Line

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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