Small-Cap Showdown: IJR's $88 Billion in Assets vs. ISCB's 1,539-Stock Portfolio

2 hours ago 5

Sara Appino, The Motley Fool

Sat, December 20, 2025 astatine 3:13 PM CST 5 min read

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF charges a somewhat little disbursal ratio but trails iShares Core SP Small-Cap ETF connected dividend yield.
ISCB offers broader diversification with implicit doubly arsenic galore holdings, though it is overmuch smaller and little liquid.
IJR has held up somewhat amended during marketplace drawdowns.
These 10 stocks could mint the adjacent question of millionaires ›

The iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF (NYSEMKT:ISCB) and iShares Core SP Small-Cap ETF (NYSEMKT:IJR) some people U.S. small-cap stocks, but disagree connected costs, diversification, and income, with ISCB leaning connected broader vulnerability and IJR offering a higher yield.

Both funds purpose to seizure the show of U.S. small-cap equities, but iShares Core SP Small-Cap ETF is simply a halfway holding for galore investors, portion iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF takes a somewhat antithetic attack with a broader portfolio. Here’s however these 2 comparison crossed cost, performance, risk, and portfolio makeup.

Metric

IJR

ISCB

Issuer	IShares	IShares
Expense ratio	0.06%	0.04%
1-yr instrumentality (as of 2025-12-12)	0.4%	6.4%
Dividend yield	1.9%	1.2%
Beta	1.21	1.27
AUM	$87.8 billion	$257.3 million

Beta measures terms volatility comparative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year play returns. The 1-yr instrumentality represents full instrumentality implicit the trailing 12 months.

ISCB is marginally much affordable connected fees, charging 0.04% versus IJR’s 0.06% disbursal ratio, but IJR offers a higher dividend output astatine 1.9% compared to ISCB’s 1.2% -- a meaningful quality for income-focused investors.

Metric

IJR

ISCB

Max drawdown (5 y)	-28.02%	-29.94%
Growth of $1,000 implicit 5 years	$1,396	$1,382

iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF casts a wide nett with 1,539 holdings, offering vulnerability crossed industrials (19%), exertion (16%), and fiscal services (15%). Its largest positions -- Ciena (NYSE:CIEN), Coherent (NYSE:COHR), and Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) -- each relationship for little than 1% of assets, reflecting a precise diversified approach. The money has a way grounds of 21.5 years, and nary notable quirks oregon specialized strategies.

iShares Core SP Small-Cap ETF, by contrast, holds 635 names, with the biggest assemblage weights successful fiscal services, industrials, and technology. Its apical holdings see Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL), Spx Technologies (NYSE:SPXC), and Dycom Industries (NYSE:DY) each with likewise tiny weightings. Both funds instrumentality intimately to mainstream U.S. small-cap exposure, but IJR’s larger size and higher output whitethorn entreaty to those prioritizing income and liquidity.