If you're interested in broad exposure to the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, look no further than the iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF (IJT), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on July 24, 2000.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $8.08 billion, making it one of the largest 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.
While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. 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
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 0.18%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.69%.
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 21.7% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Viavi Solutions Inc (VIAV) accounts for about 1.21% of total assets, followed by Formfactor Inc (FORM) and Primoris Services Corp (PRIM).
Performance and Risk
IJT 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 of the U.S. equity market.
The ETF has added roughly 25.24% so far this year and is up roughly 34.02% in the last one year (as of 06/29/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $131.47 and $176.31.
The ETF has a beta of 1.06 and standard deviation of 19.66% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 363 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 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, IJT 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) and the Vanguard Small-Cap Growth Index Fund ETF Shares (VBK) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF has $15.09 billion in assets, Vanguard Small-Cap Growth Index Fund ETF Shares has $24.00 billion. IWO has an expense ratio of 0.24% and VBK charges 0.05%.
Bottom-Line
While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.
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 S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF (IJT): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).