iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF

IWO

Börsenwert 13,4 Mrd. $

The S&P 500 has delivered a 12% gain in 2026, and about 15% annualized returns for the past 16 years. Vanguard forecasts that U.S. small-cap stocks could outperform the S&P 500 for the next 10 to 30 years.

The iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF offers a significantly lower expense ratio and higher dividend yield than the iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF. The iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF manages a much larger pool of assets but has experienced higher price volatility and a deeper historical maximum drawdown.

VUG offers a significantly lower expense ratio than IWO, appealing to cost-conscious investors. IWO provides heavier exposure to healthcare and industrials, while VUG is dominated by technology.

VOOG features a significantly lower expense ratio than IWO. IWO provides exposure to over 1,100 small-cap stocks, while VOOG concentrates on just 149 large-cap growth names.

I rate the iShares Russell 2000 ETF a sell. Small-cap growth is the weakest factor I can find, both fundamentally and technically. IWO is heavily weighted toward unprofitable small-cap stocks, especially biotech, with 36% in loss-makers and a 25.5x aggregate forward P/E. The headline 58% forward earnings growth comes from loss-makers expected to turn a profit. Among firms already profitable, growth is 15%.

Europe shows tentative signs of improvement, but the recovery remains uneven. AI investment is increasingly influencing U.S. capital spending and trade.

If you're interested in broad exposure to the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, look no further than the iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on July 24, 2000.

The iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF offers a significantly broader portfolio than the Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF. The Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF has a much lower expense ratio, making it the more cost-effective option for long-term holders.

The $85 billion listing last month of SpaceX, Elon Musk's aerospace, satellite communications and artificial intelligence company, was an important market event. The company's dual-class share structure, conferring disproportionate voting power on its founder, could be expected to serve as a template for the next wave of high-profile IPOs, with OpenAI and Anthropic expected to follow suit in the coming quarters.

The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF has strongly outperformed the iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF for the past three years, but the future could be brighter for small caps. Meta Platforms and Microsoft shares have delivered negative returns for the past year, lagging the rest of the “Magnificent Seven” stocks.