Risk Goes Uncompensated as Small-Caps Trail S&P 500 Index

In the boom-and-bust world of small-cap stocks, this has been the bust part.

The Russell 2000 Index, once the bull market’s star, has seen its shine dim amid a three-month decline that has shaved almost 5 percentage points off its annual return since March 2009. The gauge, down 13 percent since early July, has fallen for six weeks, the longest slump since 2005. It’s up 68 percent since the end of 2009, versus a 71 percent gain in the S&P 500.