Looking for broad exposure to the Small Cap Value segment of the US equity market? You should consider the iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF (IJS), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 07/24/2000.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $6.39 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Value segment of the US equity market.
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 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. Looking at their long-term performance, value stocks have outperformed growth stocks in almost all markets. They are however likely to underperform growth stocks in strong bull markets.
Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.
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 1.80%.
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund’s holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector–about 22.20% of the portfolio. Industrials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Mr Cooper Group Inc (COOP) accounts for about 1.46% of total assets, followed by Qorvo Inc (QRVO) and Borgwarner Inc (BWA).
The top 10 holdings account for about 3.81% of total assets under management.
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 lost about -2.64% so far this year and it’s up approximately 10.11% in the last one year (as of 07/11/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $83.54 and $118.05.
The ETF has a beta of 1.06 and standard deviation of 22.49% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 471 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
IShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value 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, IJS is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box – Small Cap Value segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.