Should iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF (ISCG) Be on Your Investing Radar?

Launched on June 28, 2004, the iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF (ISCG) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $1.01 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Small Cap Growth

Sitting at a market capitalization below $2 billion, small cap companies tend to be high-potential stocks compared to its large and mid cap counterparts, but come with 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. They are likely to outperform value stocks in strong bull markets but over the longer-term, value stocks have delivered better returns than growth stocks in almost all markets.

Costs

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.06%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.57%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector -- about 23.7% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Okta Inc Class A (OKTA) accounts for about 0.74% of total assets, followed by Sterling Infrastructure Inc (STRL) and Guardant Health Inc (GH).

The top 10 holdings account for about 5.54% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

ISCG seeks to match the performance of the MORNINGSTAR US SML CP BRD GRWTH EXTD ID before fees and expenses. The Morningstar US Small Cap Broad Growth Extended Index comprises of small-capitalization U.S. equities that exhibit growth characteristics.

The ETF has added about 17.72% so far this year and was up about 27.21% in the last one year (as of 08/24/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $51.70 and $66.36.

The ETF has a beta of 1.12 and standard deviation of 20.18% for the trailing three-year period. With about 937 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth 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, ISCG is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

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 $14.85 billion in assets, Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF has $24.47 billion. IWO has an expense ratio of 0.24% and VBK charges 0.05%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also 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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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