Looking for broad exposure to the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market? You should consider the State Street SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Growth ETF (SLYG), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on September 25, 2000.
The fund is sponsored by State Street Investment Management. It has amassed assets over $5.24 billion, making it one of the larger 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. Something to keep in mind is the higher level of volatility that is affiliated with growth stocks. 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
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.15%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.64%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
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 Industrials sector -- about 19.9% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Financials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Brightspring Health Services (BTSG) accounts for about 1.21% of total assets, followed by Viasat Inc (VSAT) and Krystal Biotech Inc (KRYS).
The top 10 holdings account for about 9.97% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
SLYG 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 in the U.S. equity market. The selection universe for the S&P SmallCap 600 Index includes all U.S. common equities listed on the NYSE, NASDAQ Global Select Market, NASDAQ Select Market and NASDAQ Capital Market with market capitalizations between $250 million and $1.2 billion.
The ETF has added about 26.91% so far this year and was up about 30.12% in the last one year (as of 08/17/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $88.71 and $119.50.
The ETF has a beta of 1.04 and standard deviation of 19.64% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 350 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
State Street SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap 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, SLYG is a good 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 Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF (VBK) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF has $15.15 billion in assets, Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF has $24.96 billion. IWO has an expense ratio of 0.24% and VBK charges 0.05%.
Bottom-Line
Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.
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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State Street SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Growth ETF (SLYG): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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