ETFs / IWM
What If You Had Invested in IWM 10 Years Ago?
iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) with real monthly prices, dividends reinvested, through November 2026.
IWM $270.98 ▼ -4.59% last close, Nov 05, 2026
If you had invested $1,000 in IWM in November 2016, today it would be worth
$2,333
Same $1,000 in the S&P 500 (SPY): $3,895
If you had put $500 a month into IWM since November 2016, your $60,500 would be worth today
$96,933
Same plan in the S&P 500 (SPY): $128,888
More options in the What If calculator.
IWM live price chart
IWM returns by period
| Period | Total return | Per year | $1,000 became | SPY per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | $0.7500 | +7.9% | ||
| Jun 15, 2026 | $0.6950 | +57.2% | ||
| Mar 17, 2026 | $0.4420 | -47.5% | ||
| Dec 16, 2025 | $0.8420 | +24.4% | ||
| Sep 16, 2025 | $0.6770 | +17.5% | ||
| Jun 16, 2025 | $0.5760 | +25.2% | ||
| Mar 18, 2025 | $0.4600 | -33.7% | ||
| Dec 17, 2024 | $0.6940 | -7.7% | ||
| Sep 25, 2024 | $0.7520 | +33.8% | ||
| Jun 11, 2024 | $0.5620 | +7.7% | ||
| Mar 21, 2024 | $0.5220 | -28.9% | ||
| Dec 20, 2023 | $0.7340 | — |
IWM year by year
Best full year: 2003 (+47.9%). Worst: 2008 (-34.1%).
| Year | IWM | SPY | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (so far) | +10.8% | +8.3% | |
| 2025 | +12.7% | +17.7% | |
| 2024 | +11.4% | +24.9% | |
| 2023 | +16.8% | +26.2% | |
| 2022 | -20.5% | -18.2% | Rising rates and recession worries hit small companies hard. |
| 2021 | +14.5% | +28.7% | |
| 2020 | +20.0% | +18.3% | The COVID crash in February and March was one of the fastest falls on record, and the rebound by year end was just as fast. |
| 2019 | +25.4% | +31.2% | |
| 2018 | -11.1% | -4.6% | |
| 2017 | +14.6% | +21.7% | |
| 2016 | +21.6% | +12.0% | |
| 2015 | -4.5% | +1.2% | |
| 2014 | +5.0% | +13.5% | |
| 2013 | +38.7% | +32.3% | |
| 2012 | +16.7% | +16.0% | |
| 2011 | -4.4% | +1.9% | |
| 2010 | +26.9% | +15.1% | |
| 2009 | +28.5% | +26.4% | |
| 2008 | -34.1% | -36.8% | The global financial crisis. Bank failures and a deep recession made this one of the worst years for stocks since the 1930s. |
| 2007 | -1.8% | +5.1% |
IWM: all at once or every month?
Take $12,000: all of it on day one, or $1,000 a month for a year. Across every starting month since 2000 (307 of them), the lump sum was ahead after 12 months in 200 (65%). The lump sum usually won, but roughly one start in 3 favored spreading it out. The best case for monthly investing was a start in August 2008, when it finished the year 45% ahead.
Worst drop
IWM's worst fall in this history was -52.5%, a loss of more than half, from May 2007 to February 2009. Getting back to the old high took until February 2011: 24 months from the bottom and 3.8 years from the peak. $1,000 invested at that peak shrank to about $475 at the low.
IWM dividends
IWM paid $2.73 per share over the last 12 months, quarterly. At $270.98 that is 1.01%, a small yield; nearly all of the return has come from the price. From 2020 to 2025 the yearly payout grew +4.6% a year, steadily. The yearly total fell in 2024. Amounts are adjusted for splits.
| Year | Dividends / share | Change | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $2.56 | +1.0% | 1.04% |
| 2024 | $2.53 | -6.4% | 1.15% |
| 2023 | $2.70 | +4.6% | 1.35% |
| 2022 | $2.58 | +23.7% | 1.48% |
| 2021 | $2.09 | +2.3% | 0.94% |
| 2020 | $2.04 | -2.0% | 1.04% |
| 2019 | $2.09 | +11.2% | 1.26% |
| 2018 | $1.88 | -2.5% | 1.40% |
| 2017 | $1.92 | +3.7% | 1.26% |
| 2016 | $1.85 | +7.1% | 1.38% |
Yield = each year’s dividends divided by the price at the end of the year.
IWM dividend history: last 12 payments
| Ex-dividend date | Amount | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | $0.7500 | +7.9% |
| Jun 15, 2026 | $0.6950 | +57.2% |
| Mar 17, 2026 | $0.4420 | -47.5% |
| Dec 16, 2025 | $0.8420 | +24.4% |
| Sep 16, 2025 | $0.6770 | +17.5% |
| Jun 16, 2025 | $0.5760 | +25.2% |
| Mar 18, 2025 | $0.4600 | -33.7% |
| Dec 17, 2024 | $0.6940 | -7.7% |
| Sep 25, 2024 | $0.7520 | +33.8% |
| Jun 11, 2024 | $0.5620 | +7.7% |
| Mar 21, 2024 | $0.5220 | -28.9% |
| Dec 20, 2023 | $0.7340 | — |
Stock splits
- June 2005: 2-for-1
About IWM
| Issuer | BlackRock (iShares) |
| Launched | May 2000 |
| Tracks | Russell 2000 |
| Expense ratio | 0.19% |
| Holdings | About 2,000 small U.S. companies |
Fund details as of 2025. Check the issuer for the current expense ratio and holdings.
IWM holds about 2,000 small U.S. companies, the part of the market below the S&P 500's giants. Small companies tend to depend more on borrowing and on the domestic economy, so they swing harder with interest rates and recessions.
Over the last fifteen years small caps have trailed large caps by a wide margin, but there have been long stretches in history when the reverse was true.
Questions about IWM
How much would $10,000 invested in IWM 20 years ago be worth today?
About $45,316 with dividends reinvested, invested at the November 2006 close: 353.2% in total, or 7.8% a year.
When does IWM pay dividends?
In the last 12 months the payments went out in March, June, September and December, $2.73 per share in total.
Did IWM beat the S&P 500?
No. Over the last 20 years it trailed by 2.8 percentage points a year: +7.8% a year for IWM against +10.6% for SPY, dividends reinvested. Its worst fall was about the same as SPY's.