Vanguard vs. iShares: Is VBR or IWN the Superior Small-Cap Value ETF?

2 months ago 58

Josh Kohn-Lindquist, The Motley Fool

Sun, December 21, 2025 astatine 11:44 AM CST 5 min read

  • IWN has delivered a stronger one-year full instrumentality than VBR but trails implicit a five-year period.

  • VBR charges a overmuch little disbursal ratio than IWN, which could entreaty to cost-conscious investors.

  • Sector tilts differ: IWN leans into financials and existent estate, portion VBR emphasizes industrials and user cyclicals.

  • These 10 stocks could mint the adjacent question of millionaires ›

The biggest differences betwixt Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF (NYSEMKT:VBR) and iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF (NYSEMKT:IWN) are their disbursal ratios, assemblage exposures, and caller instrumentality profiles, with IWN showing much vulnerability to financials and delivering a higher one-year return.

Both VBR and IWN purpose to supply investors with wide vulnerability to U.S. small-cap worth stocks, but they way antithetic indexes and grounds notable differences successful portfolio composition, outgo structure, and risk. For investors considering these 2 fashionable options, the details beneath whitethorn assistance clarify which attack is the champion acceptable for them.

Metric

VBR

IWN

Issuer

Vanguard

IShares

Expense ratio

0.07%

0.24%

1-yr instrumentality (as of Dec. 18, 2025)

10.1%

14.5%

Dividend yield

1.97%

1.57%

Beta

1.12

1.20

AUM

$59.6 billion

$11.8 billion

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

VBR looks much affordable with its 0.07% disbursal ratio compared to IWN’s 0.24%, and it besides offers a somewhat higher dividend yield, which could entreaty to income-focused investors.

Metric

VBR

IWN

Max drawdown (5 y)

-24.2%

-26.7%

Growth of $1,000 implicit 5 years

$1,687

$1,555

IWN tracks a handbasket of 1,407 U.S. small-cap stocks that show worth characteristics, with 26% successful fiscal services, 12% successful existent estate, and 11% successful industrials. Its apical holdings are Echostar, Hecla Mining, and UMB Financial, each representing little than 1% of assets. IWN has a 25-year way record, providing a affluent past for analysis.

VBR, successful contrast, holds 841 stocks and leans much heavy into industrials (19%), fiscal services (18%), and user cyclicals (13%). Its largest positions see NRG Energy, Sandisk, and EMCOR Group, each with humble weightings. VBR’s portfolio is simply a spot much concentrated by sector.

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Since 2004, VBR has generated annualized full returns of 9.2%, compared to IWN's people of 7.8%. In summation to this way grounds of outperformance versus its peer, VBR seems similar the wide victor to maine owed to its:


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