High-risk, high-reward corners of the market may feel off-limits to more cautious investors, but these areas may become more approachable with specific exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that help mitigate risk. Clinical-stage biotech names, micro-cap stocks, and junior gold mining companies are among the firms that may entice investors looking to make such a wager.
It may be a comparably good time to consider investing in a fund focused on one of these areas. Biotech names have been buoyed by healthy M&A activity and some notable clinical successes across the industry this summer, for instance, while momentum in certain niche sectors and a rotation away from mega-cap names has benefited some micro-caps. The funds below may offer exposure to these compelling corners of the market that also carry a healthy level of risk for investors.
BBC Finds a Way to Win the High-Stakes Biotech Game
A collection of 135 names in the clinical-stage biotech industry, the Virtus LifeSci Biotech Clinical Trials ETF (NYSEARCA: BBC) is one of the best ways to build targeted exposure to this exciting corner of the market. Firms in this fund’s portfolio are necessarily risky bets—these are companies that are in the critical development and trial stage of the drug discovery process, hoping for a breakthrough medicine that might transform health care and send stock prices soaring.
These biotech names tend to be pre-profit and on the smaller side—more than half of BBC’s basket is small-cap names, and large companies represent under 1% of the total portfolio.
Individually, they all face immense pressure to succeed before they burn through limited cash supplies. However, as a group, if even a few of the companies in BBC’s collection do succeed, the entire fund may be buoyed.
That does seem to be the case for BBC this year, given that the ETF has climbed by about 38% year to date (YTD). While these returns are impressive, and though the fund does help to reduce the risk associated with any particular stock in the space, the annual fee is quite high at 0.65%, and fund liquidity may be an issue, given the very low assets under management (AUM) and trading volume for BBC.
Cast a Wide Net Into the Micro-Cap Space With IWC
The iShares Micro-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA: IWC) targets the Russell Microcap Index, which includes a group of small and highly volatile firms that have the potential for massive growth.
Of course, a huge proportion of micro-cap stocks fail entirely, but the thesis for IWC is similar to BBC above in that if even a small number of the fund’s target companies succeed, they may overshadow those that fall. More than half of the portfolio is represented by health care or financials companies, although there is broad exposure across sectors.
IWC does provide solid variety, with nearly 1,350 different domestic companies represented. By and large, these will not be companies that most investors have heard of, making performing background research highly time-consuming and difficult. The fund seems to ask investors to simply trust the underlying methodology of the index, and for a fairly high fee of 0.60%. Like BBC, however, those willing to take the chance so far in 2026 have been rewarded nicely: IWC is up 24% YTD.
A View of 1 of the Most Speculative Corners of the Gold Mining Industry
Gold prices have regained some upward momentum this summer after a significant turnaround earlier in 2026 following a multi-year rally. While the changes in direction for the spot price of gold—and the related turbulence among companies in the gold mining industry—may leave some investors uncertain of how to proceed, those with a bullish view of gold and a willingness to take on risk may be right at home with the VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA: GDXJ).
GDXJ holds a portfolio of 117 small and early-stage gold mining companies from across developed markets. Though some better-known companies are included in the portfolio, many are much smaller outfits with little prior history in the industry. Like the funds above, GDXJ makes a speculative play on companies that either have the potential to win big or struggle significantly.
One distinguishing factor for this fund, however, is the high allocations to a handful of names. Companies like Equinox Gold Corp. (TSE: EQX) and Alamos Gold Inc. (NYSE: AGI) account for up to about 7% of the portfolio each, leaving less prominent companies to much smaller allocations. Investors may see this as a way to moderate the riskiness of GDXJ’s strategy—or as a limiting factor for those seeking heavier exposure to speculative names. Either way, GDXJ’s return of 13% YTD, coupled with a dividend yield of about 2.1%, may outweigh these concerns.
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