The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP), the oldest, largest, and most popular ETF using this approach surpassed $100 billion in assets for the first time this month:
In 2026, the equal-weight approach to the U.S. large-cap stock market index has outperformed the market-weight index that serves as the core exposure for the vast majority of investors:
While concerns about mega-cap tech stock concentration are not new, "All of a sudden, people are paying attention," says Cinthia Murphy, director of research at VettaFi:
Equal-weight ETFs are having a moment. The investing approach isn't new, but it has moved into the spotlight this year as many of the large-cap stocks that have driven a disproportionate share of core stock market index performance in recent years have lagged:
RSP and its peers still have a long way to go to catch up to the mega S&P 500 funds. The three biggest ETFs of all — Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and State Street SPDR S&P 500 Trust (SPY) — have close to $3 trillion in assets between them:
But more investors are turning to equal-weight and smart-beta strategies, using them as both a short-term trade to capitalize on the shift and as a long-term way to stay diversified and invested in the broader market:
