Small-Cap Value ETFs: SLYV Tops VBR in One Year Growth, VBR Offers Lower Fees

Jake Lerch, The Motley Fool

Wed, May 27, 2026 astatine 11:57 AM CDT 5 min read

The Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF (NYSEMKT:VBR) provides ultra-low-cost vulnerability to a wide handbasket of small-cap worth stocks, portion the State Street SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Value ETF (NYSEMKT:SLYV) offers a much concentrated, index-specific alternative.

Investors seeking to capitalize connected small-company valuations often take betwixt these 2 funds to seizure the worth factor. While some people the small-cap segment, their underlying indexes pb to antithetic portfolio densities and assemblage weights. This examination helps find which money amended fits a circumstantial semipermanent strategy.

Snapshot (cost & size)

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

The Vanguard money is the much affordable option, charging an disbursal ratio of 0.05% compared to the 0.15% charged by the SPDR fund. Both ETFs connection akin yields, providing a accordant payout somewhat beneath 2.00%.

Performance & hazard examination

What's wrong

The Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF (VBR) offers a wide presumption of the small-cap landscape, with 841 holdings. Its assemblage allocation leads with fiscal services astatine 18.00%, industrials astatine 17.00%, and user cyclical astatine 13.00%. The largest positions see Jabil (NYSE:JBL) astatine 0.76%, Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) astatine 0.76%, and NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) astatine 0.74%. This fund, which launched successful 2004, has a trailing-12-month dividend of $4.14 per share. Its passive attack offers wide-reaching vulnerability to the CRSP U.S. Small Cap Value Index.

In contrast, the State Street SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Value ETF (SLYV) tracks the S&P SmallCap 600 Value Index with a much concentrated 460 holdings. Its assemblage tilts are heavier successful fiscal services astatine 20.00% and user cyclical astatine 16.00%, portion industrials relationship for 12.00%. Its largest positions see Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) astatine 1.15%, Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) astatine 1.01%, and Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) astatine 0.99%. Launched successful 2000, it has a trailing-12-month dividend of $1.90 per share. This higher attraction whitethorn entreaty to investors seeking circumstantial scale characteristics implicit full marketplace breadth.

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