Best Russell 2000 and best small cap ETFs

Screening Filters

1. themes: ['Russell 2000', 'Small Cap Growth Equities', 'Small Cap Value Equities']

   • Purpose: Focus the search on ETFs that track the Russell 2000 index and other U.S. small‑cap stock strategies.
   • Rationale:
     • “Russell 2000” directly captures ETFs benchmarked to, or closely tracking, the Russell 2000 index.
     • “Small Cap Growth Equities” and “Small Cap Value Equities” add other small‑cap ETFs with similar exposure (growth and value segments), covering the “other small‑cap ETFs” part of your question.
     • This ensures we’re not pulling in mid‑cap, large‑cap, or non–equity funds.

2. year_price_change_pct: {'min': '10'}

   • Purpose: Identify ETFs that have performed strongly over the last year.
   • Rationale:
     • You asked for “best‑performing” ETFs. A minimum 1‑year price gain of 10% is a straightforward performance hurdle.
     • This excludes laggards and focuses on funds that have recently outperformed to at least a basic degree.

3. monthly_average_dollar_volume: {'min': '1500000'}

   • Purpose: Ensure the ETFs are reasonably liquid and tradable.
   • Rationale:
     • A minimum average monthly dollar volume of $1.5M helps avoid very illiquid or obscure ETFs that might have good performance on paper but are hard to trade without big bid‑ask spreads.
     • For “best‑performing” candidates you’d realistically want funds you can enter and exit without excessive trading friction.

4. stock_position_pct: ['MoreThan50Pct']

   • Purpose: Make sure the selected ETFs are primarily invested in stocks, not bonds, cash, or derivatives.
   • Rationale:
     • Your query is about ETFs tracking small‑cap equity indexes. Requiring more than 50% in stocks filters out multi‑asset or bond‑heavy funds that might still be labeled “small‑cap” in some way but don’t give pure small‑cap equity exposure.
     • This aligns the holdings profile with what you likely mean by “small‑cap ETFs.”

5. **expense_ratio: {'max': '0.004'} (≤ 0.40%)

   • Purpose: Limit the search to relatively low‑cost ETFs.
   • Rationale:
     • While you asked for “best‑performing,” long‑term net performance is strongly influenced by fees.
     • Capping the expense ratio at 0.40% focuses on cost‑efficient funds, which are more likely to deliver better net returns over time, especially in a competitive small‑cap index space.

6. inception_date: {'max': '2021-01-01'}

   • Purpose: Require a minimum operating history.
   • Rationale:
     • Setting a maximum inception date of 2021‑01‑01 effectively keeps ETFs that started on or before that date (i.e., at least a few years of history).
     • For “best‑performing” lists, very new funds can have distorted performance from a short or unusual time window. A longer track record makes performance more meaningful and comparable.

Why Results Match Your Request

• The themes filter directly targets Russell 2000 and small‑cap equity ETFs, matching the asset class and index family you asked about.
• The performance filter (year_price_change_pct) aligns with your desire for “best‑performing” by setting a minimum recent return threshold.
• The liquidity and stock‑exposure filters (dollar volume, stock_position_pct) ensure the ETFs are both practically tradable and truly equity‑focused.
• The expense ratio and inception date filters add quality controls: you see established, lower‑cost ETFs, which are more credible candidates for sustained strong performance, not just short‑term outliers.