IJT vs. RZG: Two Small-Cap ETFs But One Has Performed Largely Better

1 day ago 2

Adé Hennis, The Motley Fool

Sat, January 10, 2026 astatine 11:20 AM CST 5 min read

IJT charges astir fractional the ongoing fees of RZG and has a overmuch larger plus base
RZG outpaced IJT implicit the past year, but IJT showed a smaller drawdown and higher five-year growth.
IJT holds astir triple the fig of stocks, with a somewhat greater exertion tilt than RZG.
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Focused connected the maturation sector, some the iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF (NASDAQ:IJT) and the Invesco S&P SmallCap 600 Pure Growth ETF (NYSEMKT:RZG)offer broad-based vulnerability to small-cap maturation companies. However, RZG focuses connected a “pure” maturation subset based connected sales, earnings, and momentum. This examination highlights wherever their approaches diverge successful presumption of cost, performance, risk, and portfolio composition.

Metric

RZG

IJT

Issuer	Invesco	iShares
Expense ratio	0.35%	0.18%
1-yr instrumentality (as of Jan. 7, 2025)	12.99%	5.75%
Dividend yield	0.36%	0.9%
AUM	$104.83 million	$6.29 billion
*Beta (5Y monthly)	1.15	1.18

*Beta measures terms volatility comparative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year play returns.

IJT looks much affordable with an disbursal ratio of 0.18% versus 0.35% for RZG, and it besides delivers a higher dividend output astatine 0.9% compared to RZG’s 0.36% payout.

Metric

RZG

IJT

Max drawdown (5 y)	(38.33%)	(29.24%)
Growth of $1,000 implicit 5 years	$1,199	$1,266

IJT holds 342 stocks, offering wide vulnerability crossed small-cap growth, with the largest assemblage weights successful exertion (20%), industrials (19%), and healthcare (17%). Its apical holdings—Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR)(undefined), Armstrong World Industries (NYSE:AWI), and InterDigital (NASDAQ:IDCC) are each nether 1.4% of assets, helping to dispersed risk. The fund’s 25-year way grounds makes it 1 of the longest-running small-cap maturation ETFs connected the market.

RZG, successful contrast, tracks a “pure” maturation methodology and holds 135 stocks, with a heavier tilt towards healthcare (27%). Top positions see Progyny (NASDAQ:PGNY), ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR), and ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR).

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It's important to recognize what "pure" maturation really is. RZG is based connected the S&P SmallCap 600 Pure Growth Index, which utilizes a maturation people to place stocks that grounds beardown oregon "pure" growth. The 3 factors utilized to make that people are income growth, the ratio of net alteration to price, and momentum. Companies that don't conscionable the criteria are excluded from the fund, which is wherefore RZG has astir 3 times less full holdings of IJT.