The iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) was launched on May 22, 2000, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $108.84 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Why Small Cap Blend
Small cap companies have market capitalization below $2 billion. They usually have higher potential than large and mid cap companies with stocks but higher risk.
Blend ETFs are aptly named, since they tend to hold a mix of growth and value stocks, as well as show characteristics of both kinds of equities.
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 0.06%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.13%.
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 Industrials sector -- about 17.3% of the portfolio. Financials and Information Technology round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Blk Csh Fnd Treasury Sl Agency (XTSLA) accounts for about 1.64% of total assets, followed by Sanmina Corp (SANM) and Semtech Corp (SMTC).
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 added roughly 21.17% so far this year and is up roughly 29.97% in the last one year (as of 07/14/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $108.46 and $148.31.
The ETF has a beta of 1.01 and standard deviation of 19.86% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 651 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 outstanding 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 Index Fund ETF Shares (VB) and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) track a similar index. While Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund ETF Shares has $79.65 billion in assets, iShares Russell 2000 ETF has $81.97 billion. VB has an expense ratio of 0.03% 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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iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).