Russell 2000
The Russell 2000 tracks about 2,000 smaller US companies and is the go-to gauge of small-cap performance. It is more sensitive to the domestic economy and interest rates than large-cap indexes.
How the Russell 2000 is built
The 2,000 smaller names within the broader Russell 3000, weighted by market cap. No single company carries much weight, so it is broadly diversified by construction.
Methodology: official index-provider documentation ↗
What to check before using the Russell 2000 as a benchmark
- It measures smaller public companies, whose business conditions and financing needs can differ from those of megacaps.
- Its broad constituent count does not eliminate risk: small-cap companies can be more volatile and less liquid than large companies.
- Russell’s annual reconstitution can change membership, so a static holdings list is only a snapshot.
Biggest companies in the Russell 2000
via IWM · as of July 2026Top holdings shown via the tracking ETF IWM (membership only, no weights). Source: stockanalysis.com.
Recent insider purchase activity in the Russell 2000's top holdings
1 of the 10 top holdings shown above had one or more open-market purchases in Tradune’s trailing-90-day Form 4 score window. This is a view of the displayed top holdings only, not the fund or index’s full membership.
Net value is open-market purchases less sales, shown only when every transaction value in the window was disclosed. Form 4 activity is descriptive, not predictive or investment advice. How the score is computed →
How to invest in the Russell 2000
You can’t buy an index directly — you buy a fund that tracks it. The most common way to follow the Russell 2000 is the IWM ETF. Because it’s market-cap weighted, remember the largest holdings drive most of the moves — if you already own those names, you may be more concentrated than the broad label suggests.
Other major indexes
Frequently asked about the Russell 2000
What does the Russell 2000 measure?
The Russell 2000 measures the small-cap segment of the US equity market through about 2,000 companies drawn from the Russell 3000 universe.
Why can the Russell 2000 behave differently from the S&P 500?
The Russell 2000 is made up of smaller companies, while the S&P 500 focuses on large caps. Their sector mix, financing sensitivity and business exposure can therefore differ.
How can investors get Russell 2000 exposure?
An index cannot be purchased directly. IWM is an ETF designed to track the Russell 2000; investors should review the fund separately from the index.
Educational overview of an index and its membership — not investment advice, and not a recommendation to buy or sell any index fund or company. Holdings are a periodic snapshot and change over time.