Invesco's ETF Puts Rocket Fuel on the S&P 500

"The S&P 500 has a concentration problem. At the start of 2026, the top seven stocks account for roughly a third of the market-cap weighted index, leaving investors heavily exposed to a handful of mega-cap technology companies. Invesco S&P 100 Equal Weight ETF ( NYSEARCA:EQWL) offers a different approach: it takes the 100 largest companies in the S&P 500 and gives each equal weight, capping even giants like Apple Inc. ( NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation ( NASDAQ:MSFT) at roughly 1% of the portfolio."

"With nearly 20 years of history since its December 2006 inception, EQWL has delivered impressive results. The ETF returned 271% over the past decade compared to 234% for the market-cap weighted SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ( NYSEARCA:SPY), a 37 percentage point advantage. More recently, EQWL gained 18.84% over the past year versus 17.34% for SPY, and it's up 1.07% in early 2026 while SPY has gained just 0.85%. The strategy works by rebalancing quarterly, systematically trimming winners and adding to laggards."

"Equal-weight strategies thrive when market leadership broadens beyond mega-caps. Early 2026 signals suggest this rotation may be underway. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF ( NYSEARCA:IWM) has gained 2.67% year-to-date while the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust ( NASDAQ:QQQ) has posted a modest 0.60% gain. This divergence indicates investors are seeking exposure beyond the mega-cap names that dominated 2023 and 2024. Watch for continued shifts in market breadth by comparing equal-weight indices to their market-cap counterparts."

S&P 500 concentration has increased, with the top seven stocks comprising about one-third of the market-cap weighted index at the start of 2026. Invesco S&P 100 Equal Weight ETF (EQWL) assigns equal weight to the 100 largest S&P companies, capping giants like Apple and Microsoft at roughly 1% each and rebalancing quarterly to trim winners and add to laggards. Since its December 2006 inception EQWL returned 271% over the past decade versus 234% for SPY, and outperformed SPY year-to-date and in early 2026. Equal-weight strategies often benefit when market breadth widens and leadership rotates away from mega-caps, historically adding about 1.05% annually.

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