The Russell 2000 Index was created in 1984 by Frank Russell Company and was designed to track the performance of small-cap companies. Russell 2000 Index ETF (Exchange Traded Fund), trading exclusively at the AMEX Exchange, make it simple to participate in the small-cap market.
The weighted average market capitalization for companies in the Russell 2000 is about US$1 billion and the index itself is considered to be the benchmark for all small cap mutual funds.
The Russell 2000 serves as a good benchmark for small-cap investments, and index funds based on it have done quite well.
The popularity of the Russell 2000 as a small-cap benchmark leads to four fundamental reasons for using RUT options:
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) & iShares
| Securities | Issuer | Type | Symbol / Root |
| Russell 2000 Growth Index Fund | iShares | ETF | IWO |
| Russell 2000 Index Fund | iShares | ETF | IWM |
| Russell 2000 Value Index Fund | iShares | ETF | IWN |
| Russell 2000 Index "MITTS" | Merrill Lynch | ETF | RSM |
| Russell 2000 Index "MITTS" | Merrill Lynch | ETF | RUM |
| RUSSELL 2000 GROWTH I | VANGUARD | ETF | VTWG |
| RUSSELL 2000 INDEX ET | VANGUARD | ETF | VTWO |
| RUSSELL 2000 VALUE INC | VANGUARD | ETF | VTWV |
| RUSSELL 2000 EQUAL | GUGGENHEIM | ETF | EWRS |
| RUSSELL 2000 EQUITY WTS PORTF | POWERSHARES | ETF | EQWS |
| RUSSELL 2000 PURE GROWTH | POWERSHARES | ETF | PXSG |
| RUSSELL 2000 PURE VALUE | POWERSHARES | ETF | PXSV |
| SHORT RUSSELL 2000 | POWERSHARES | ETF | RWM |
| RUSSELL 2000 DIVDEND | POWERSHARES | ETF | SMDV |
| RUSSELL 2000 LOW VOL ETF | SPDR | ETF | SMLV |
| RUSSELL 2000 ETF | SPDR | ETF | TWOK |
| ULTRA RUSSELL 2000 GROUP | PROSHARES | ETF | UKK |
| PROSHARES ULTRAPRO RUSSELL 2000 | PROSHARES | ETF | URTY |
| PROSHARES ULTRA RUSSELL 2000 VA | PROSHARES | ETF | UVT |
| PROSHARES ULTRA RUSSELL 2000 | PROSHARES | ETF | UWM |
About Russell 2000 Index Funds & ETFs
Investors are able to trade a broad market by making one Russell 2000 Index ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) trading decision rather than making the many decisions involved with investing in numerous individual stocks.
Insurance
Russell 2000 Index ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) offer a convenient and easy way to help reduce the market risk of a broad market portfolio of many small-cap stocks, without disrupting the make-up of the portfolio.
Leverage
Purchasing Russell 2000 Index ETFs, instead of buying or selling thousands of individual stocks, provides an investor with an additional opportunity to use investment capital elsewhere. For a relatively small percentage gain in the underlying index, a Russell 2000 Index ETFs can increase in value by a multiple of that gain.