7 Best-Performing Small-Cap ETFs for June 2024

Small-cap ETFs can be a refreshing addition to your investment portfolio, but they do come with some risk.
Alana Benson
By Alana Benson 
Updated
Edited by Pamela de la Fuente

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.


The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.

If you’re looking to add smaller companies to your investment portfolio, small-cap ETFs make it easy to invest in lots of small-cap companies at once.

Small-cap ETF definition

A small-cap ETF is a type of exchange-traded fund that invests in small companies whose value is less than $2 billion. And while $2 billion may sound like a lot, these companies are relatively tiny compared with mid-cap, or even large-cap companies, which start at $10 billion. So if you invest in a small-cap ETF, you’re essentially investing in a collection of small companies in a single investment.

Best-performing small-cap ETFs

The ETFs below are small-cap growth ETFs. These funds invest in companies that are predicted to increase in price faster than other small-cap stocks.

Ticker

Company

Performance (Year)

SMIN

iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF

39.31%

DXJS

WisdomTree Japan Hedged SmallCap Equity Fund

39.25%

XSMO

Invesco S&P SmallCap Momentum ETF

39.18%

PSCI

Invesco S&P SmallCap Industrials ETF

35.03%

PSCE

Invesco S&P SmallCap Energy ETF

33.91%

AVUV

Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF

32.44%

MMSC

First Trust Multi-Manager Small Cap Opportunities ETF

29.73%

Source: Finviz. Data is current as of market close on May 31, 2024. Data is intended for informational purposes only.

Advertisement
NerdWallet rating 

4.9

/5
NerdWallet rating 

4.3

/5
NerdWallet rating 

5.0

/5

Fees 

$0

per online equity trade

Fees 

$0

per trade

Fees 

$0

per trade

Account minimum 

$0

Account minimum 

$0

Account minimum 

$0

Promotion 

None

no promotion available at this time

Promotion 

1 Free Stock

after linking your bank account (stock value range $5.00-$200)

Promotion 

None

no promotion available at this time

Why invest in small-cap ETFs?

One reason small-cap ETFs may be attractive to investors is that they provide further diversification to a portfolio that has exposure to large or medium-sized companies.

Some investors believe in what’s called the “small-cap effect,” a theory that smaller companies have more room to grow than larger companies — and thus have more potential for a bigger return.

Because smaller companies don’t have as much financial wiggle room, they are often riskier than larger companies. But when those single stocks are rolled into an ETF, it can smooth out the overall risk. For example, if one company goes out of business, the other companies in that ETF may help buoy your portfolio.

And while it’s impossible to know if investing in smaller companies will definitively lead to a more significant profit, diversifying the companies in your portfolio, even if they are smaller, can help you safeguard against risk.

Learn more

AD
Robinhood
NerdWallet rating 
Learn More

on Robinhood's website

Get more smart money moves – straight to your inbox
Sign up and we’ll send you Nerdy articles about the money topics that matter most to you along with other ways to help you get more from your money.
Nerdwallet advisors logo

Need help with your finances? Work with a Certified Financial Planner™ for one of the lowest prices on the market.

  • Discuss your finances on a one-time call for $99 or subscribe to a full financial planning membership for just $30/month with a six-month commitment.

NerdWallet Advisory LLC

AD