Looking for broad exposure to the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market? You should consider the Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 ETF (VIOO), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on September 9, 2010.
The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $3.02 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Why Small Cap Blend
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.
Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.
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 0.07%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.43%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector -- about 19.3% of the portfolio. Industrials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Slcmt1142 accounts for about 1.06% of total assets, followed by Mr Cooper Group Inc (COOP) and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc (KTOS).
The top 10 holdings account for about 3.75% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
VIOO seeks to match the performance of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index before fees and expenses. The S&P SmallCap 600 Index represents the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity market.
The ETF return is roughly 3.47% so far this year and was up about 5.27% in the last one year (as of 09/17/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $83.80 and $117.99.
The ETF has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 21.44% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 609 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 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, VIOO is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) and the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 2000 ETF has $69.13 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $85.25 billion. IWM has an expense ratio of 0.19% and IJR charges 0.06%.
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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Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 ETF (VIOO): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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