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Should iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market, the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 05/22/2000.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $87.75 billion, making it the largest ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Small Cap Blend

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.

Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.

Costs

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.06%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.04%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 17.40% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Blk Csh Fnd Treasury Sl Agency (XTSLA) accounts for about 1.69% of total assets, followed by Carpenter Technology Corp (CRS - Free Report) and Comerica Inc (CMA - Free Report) .

Performance and Risk

IJR seeks to match the performance of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index before fees and expenses. The S&P SmallCap 600 Index measures the performance of the small capitalization sector of the U.S. equity market.

The ETF has gained about 9.19% so far this year and it's up approximately 11.76% in the last one year (as of 12/23/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $102.13 and $127.38.

The ETF has a beta of 1.13 and standard deviation of 21.73% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 681 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, IJR is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The Vanguard Small-Cap ETF (VB - Free Report) and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard Small-Cap ETF has $63.02 billion in assets, iShares Russell 2000 ETF has $75.78 billion. VB has an expense ratio of 0.05% and IWM charges 0.19%.

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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