Russell 2000

The Russell 2000 is one of three key Russell stock market indexes, the 3000, 2000, and 1000. The 2000 tracks the smallest 2,000 firms within the Russell 3000, while the Russell 1000 tracks the remaining 1,000 larger cap firms. The index is therefore used to track the performance of US listed small cap companies; a market segment overlooked by larger indexes.

The performance of the Russell 2000 is important to consider as small cap companies typically outperform their large cap counterparts in terms of growth, and are often indicative of wider economic health and stability. The index is heavily exposed to a range of industries including, healthcare, technology, and industrials. Due to its composition of 2000 assets the index is relatively broad in scale when compared to other indexes, meaning performance is often judged as a metric reflecting wider market performance. The index can be tracked using ETFs such as the iShares Russell 2000 ($IWM) and Vanguard Russell 2000 ETF ($VTWO).

ETFs
https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239710/ishares-russell-2000-etf
https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/vtwo