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Launched on 07/24/2000, the iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF (IJS) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Small Cap Value segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $7.16 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Value segment of the US equity market.
Why Small Cap Value
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.
Value stocks have lower than average price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios. They also have lower than average sales and earnings growth rates. While value stocks have outperformed growth stocks in nearly all markets when you consider long-term performance, growth stocks are more likely to outpace value stocks in strong bull markets.
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 1.79%.
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 Financials sector--about 21.90% of the portfolio. Industrials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Comerica Inc (CMA) accounts for about 1.24% of total assets, followed by Bath And Body Works Inc (BBWI) and Robert Half (RHI).
The top 10 holdings account for about 9.4% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
IJS seeks to match the performance of the S&P SmallCap 600 Value Index before fees and expenses. The S&P SmallCap 600 Value Index measures the performance of the small capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market.
The ETF has gained about 6.84% so far this year and was up about 6.84% in the last one year (as of 12/31/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $94.12 and $118.05.
The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 21.94% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 504 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.