IWM calculator
Historical growth of iShares Russell 2000 ETF using Russell 2000 (small-cap; S&P 500 is imperfect proxy) return series. Dividends reinvested at year-end; expense ratio drag not applied to historical figures (use projection mode for a lifetime fee estimate).
$10,000 invested in IWM at inception (2000) with dividends reinvested through end of 2024 would be worth approximately $62,543 nominal ($33,211 in 2000 dollars). Annualized nominal: 7.61%; real: 4.92%. Small-caps diverge meaningfully from S&P 500 — this proxy is directional only.
Uses annual S&P 500 total return (with dividends reinvested) and CPI-U inflation, 1928–2024. Source: Damodaran (NYU Stern) + Shiller CAPE + BLS. Excludes fees, taxes, and bid/ask. Real return = nominal ÷ cumulative CPI.
IWM at a glance
| Full name | iShares Russell 2000 ETF |
| Provider | BlackRock |
| Expense ratio | 0.19% |
| Inception | 2000 |
| Assets under management | $70B |
| Dividend yield | 1.40% |
| Return series used | Russell 2000 (small-cap; S&P 500 is imperfect proxy) |
How small-caps differ from the headline index
Small-cap indexes like the Russell 2000 hold companies a fraction of the size of S&P 500 members, with higher volatility, more leverage sensitivity, and long stretches of divergence from large caps — which makes the S&P proxy series here an imperfect stand-in, as flagged in the methodology note. Academic research (Fama-French) found a long-run small-cap return premium, but it has been weak since the 1980s. Size the position accordingly.
What 0.19% costs over 30 years
Expense ratios compound against you exactly the way returns compound for you. On a $10,000 position growing at a 10% gross return for 30 years, IWM's 0.19% fee quietly consumes about $8,819 of the final balance. The cheapest fund in the same category, VB at 0.05%, would cost about $2,364 — a difference of $6,455 for holding what is often a near-identical basket.
IWM vs same-category peers
| Fund | ER | Yield | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| IWM (this page) | 0.19% | 1.4% | 2000 |
| VB | 0.05% | 1.4% | 2004 |
How this calculator works
For each start year, we apply the year-by-year total return of the Russell 2000 (small-cap; S&P 500 is imperfect proxy) to the entered starting amount, compounding annually with dividends reinvested at year-end. This mirrors what an actual buy-and-hold IWM holder would have experienced, before fees and taxes. Expense ratio is intentionally excluded from the historical result to keep the underlying series comparable across ETFs; for a full lifetime fee estimate at 0.19%, use the projection tab in our fund fee analyzer.