Investing in Small-Cap ETFs: ISCG's Lower Fees or SLYG's Higher Dividend?

2 hours ago 1

Sarah Sidlow, The Motley Fool

Sat, January 24, 2026 astatine 6:41 AM CST 5 min read

ISCG charges a little disbursal ratio but has a somewhat little dividend output than SLYG.
ISCG posted a overmuch higher one-year instrumentality but experienced a notably deeper five-year drawdown.
ISCG holds astir 3 times arsenic galore stocks, tilting much toward industrials than SLYG.
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The State Street SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Growth ETF (NYSEMKT:SLYG) and the iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF (NYSEMKT:ISCG) disagree successful cost, portfolio breadth, and humanities drawdowns, with ISCG offering little fees and broader concern vulnerability but showing higher volatility implicit time.

Both SLYG and ISCG people U.S. small-cap maturation stocks, but each takes a chiseled attack to assemblage weighting, holdings count, and caller performance. This examination looks astatine cost, risk, returns, and portfolio operation to assistance investors determine which money whitethorn amended acceptable their preferences.

Metric

SLYG

ISCG

Issuer	SPDR	IShares
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.06%
1-yr instrumentality (as of 1/9/2026)	8.96%	18.02%
Dividend yield	0.86%	0.61%
AUM	$3.6 billion	$807.86 million

he 1-yr instrumentality represents full instrumentality implicit the trailing 12 months.

ISCG is much affordable connected fees, charging little than fractional the yearly disbursal ratio of SLYG, but SLYG pays a somewhat higher dividend yield. Investors focused connected minimizing costs whitethorn similar ISCG, portion those seeking a modestly higher payout mightiness look to SLYG.

Metric

SLYG

ISCG

Max drawdown (5 y)	-29.17%	-41.49%
Growth of $1,000 implicit 5 years	$1,210	$1,095

ISCG tracks a wide handbasket of 971 U.S. small-cap maturation stocks, with assemblage weights led by industrials (26%), exertion (18%), and healthcare (17%). Its largest holdings, specified arsenic Lumentum Holdings, Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, and ATI, each marque up little than 1% of the fund. With implicit 2 decades of history, ISCG offers wide diversification crossed small-cap maturation companies, and nary notable quirks oregon antithetic constraints.

SLYG, by contrast, holds 334 stocks with a assemblage tilt toward industrials (20.5%), exertion (19%), and healthcare (16%). Top positions see TTM Technologies, Advanced Energy Industries, and Sanmina. SLYG’s attack is much concentrated, and it tracks the S&P SmallCap 600 Growth Index, focusing connected firms with beardown income growth, net momentum, and terms strength.

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Investing successful small-cap exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is simply a bully mode to get vulnerability to a wide beingness of small-cap stocks, and is mostly considered a coagulated attack to diversifying your portfolio. Small-cap stocks — mostly considered to beryllium stocks with marketplace caps betwixt $250 cardinal and $2 cardinal — thin to beryllium much volatile than their large-cap peers, featuring much hazard but besides greater upside potential.