## [# Boom & Bust: Assets Flee CALF as Performance Slumps](/sections/news/boom-bust-assets-flee-calf-performance-slumps)
# Boom & Bust: Assets Flee CALF as Performance Slumps
\- The small-cap ETF is struggling, causing investors to head for the exits.
\- The exodus, combined with deep losses, has slashed the fund’s assets by nearly half.
[](/authors/sumit-roy)
[By Sumit Roy ](/authors/sumit-roy)
Jun 02, 2025
Edited by: David Tony
[ + Follow ](/etf/login)
Share Email LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter)
googletag.cmd.push(function() {
googletag.display('js-dfp-tag-article_page_302x26');
});
Loading
The [**Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows ETF (CALF)**](/CALF) has fallen sharply out of favor in 2025, as a dramatic reversal in performance has triggered a flood of outflows from the once-high-flying fund.
Year to date, investors have yanked $2.6 billion from the ETF, the 12th-largest outflow among all U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds. That exodus, combined with deep losses, has slashed the fund’s assets by nearly half—from $8.1 billion at the start of the year to $4.3 billion today. At its peak in 2024, CALF had just under $10 billion in assets.
## CALF Highlights Sentiment Shift
The sharp reversal underscores how quickly investor sentiment can shift.
CALF’s recent struggles have been particularly stark given its meteoric rise in prior years. From just $1 billion in assets in October 2022, the fund ballooned to nearly $10 billion in April 2024 thanks to blistering 2023 performance.
That year, the ETF surged 35%, roughly double the returns of the biggest small-cap ETFs, including the [**iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM)**](/IWM), the [**Vanguard Small-Cap ETF (VB)**](/VB) and the [**iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR)**](/IJR).
But the magic didn’t last. In 2024, CALF dropped 7.4% even as its small-cap peers gained between 8% and 15%. And in 2025, the performance gap has only widened. As of now, the fund is down 12.5% on the year, compared to a 6.9% decline for IWM, a 4.7% drop for VB and an 8.2% loss for IJR.
googletag.cmd.push(function() {
googletag.display('js-dfp-tag-in_article_unit');
});
## CALF Concentrates on Cash Flow
CALF’s underperformance reflects both its concentrated nature and its unique strategy. While IWM, VB and IJR track broad, market cap-weighted indexes with hundreds or even thousands of holdings—none of which typically make up more than 0.5% of the portfolio—CALF is much more selective.
The ETF chooses 200 companies with the highest [free cash flow yields](https://www.etf.com/sections/etf-basics/how-calculate-free-cash-flow-yield) (free cash flow divided by enterprise value) from the small-cap universe. It’s a value-leaning approach but one distinct from traditional value screens, such as those that emphasize price-to-book or price-to-earnings [ratios](https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/trading-investing/fundamental-analysis/company-valuation-ratios).
As a result, CALF’s portfolio is relatively concentrated, with the top 10 holdings making up around 20% of assets and the top 20 more than 35%. Individual stocks can carry weights of 2% or more. That’s not unusually high for ETFs overall, but it’s elevated compared to other broad small-cap funds.
Unfortunately for CALF, many of its top holdings have fared poorly in the past year and a half. Just five companies—[Xerox Holdings Corp. (XRX)](/stock/xrx), [Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc. (AMR)](/stock/amr), [Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU)](/stock/btu), [Signet Jewelers Limited (SIG)](/stock/sig) and [Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IRWD)](/stock/irwd)—have collectively wiped nearly six percentage points off the fund’s returns since the start of 2024.
That kind of drag is difficult to overcome, and it's especially painful for a strategy that pitches itself as a more disciplined, cash-flows-focused alternative to traditional small-cap investing.
## Value Holds Up
To be clear, this year’s weakness doesn’t appear to be a referendum on value investing itself. Over the past 17 months, the [**Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF (VBR)**](/VBR) is up 8% while CALF has fallen 19%.
VBR tracks the CRSP US Small Cap Value Index, which uses a multi-factor model that selects stocks based on price-to-book, various price-to-earnings ratios, dividend yields and price-to-sales ratios.
CALF's struggles highlight the risks of a relatively concentrated portfolio of small-cap stocks. When it works, it can outperform in a big way. But when it doesn’t, investors may quickly head for the exits.
[ + Follow ](/etf/login)
[ Sumit Roy Senior ETF Analyst ](/authors/sumit-roy)
Sumit Roy is the senior ETF analyst for etf.com and author of (Don't) Invest Like a Pro. He creates a variety of content for the platform, including… [View Bio](/authors/sumit-roy)
Related Topics [Small Cap](http://www.etf.com/topics/small-cap)
[Vanguard](http://www.etf.com/topics/vanguard)
[iShares](http://www.etf.com/topics/ishares)
[Pacer](http://www.etf.com/topics/pacer)
[Value](http://www.etf.com/topics/value)