What happened
According to a recent SEC filing, Gratus Wealth Advisors, LLC, significantly reduced its stake in the First Trust Nasdaq-100 Select Equal Weight ETF (QQEW +2.36%), selling 164,630 shares during Q1 2026. The estimated transaction value was $22.3 million, based on the average closing price for the quarter. The quarter-end position value in QQEW declined by $25.0 million, reflecting both the share sale and price movement during the period.
What else to know
- Following the sale, QQEW represents 1.9% of Gratus Wealth Advisors' total AUM -- outside the fund's top five holdings.
- Top holdings after the filing:
- NYSE: DGRO: $85.5 million (12.4% of AUM)
- NYSE: MGK: $59.8 million (8.6% of AUM)
- NYSE: XSMO: $39.6 million (5.7% of AUM)
- NASDAQ: QQQ: $37.0 million (5.4% of AUM)
- NYSE: IBDR: $36.3 million (5.2% of AUM)
- As of May 4, 2026, QQEW shares were trading at $139.15, up about 12% over the past year -- underperforming the S&P 500 by roughly 16 percentage points, and trailing its Large Growth category benchmark by roughly 4 percentage points.
ETF overview
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| AUM | $1.6 billion |
| Expense ratio | 0.55% |
| Dividend yield | 0.35% |
| 1-year return (as of 5/4/26) | 12.24% |
ETF snapshot
The First Trust Nasdaq-100 Select Equal Weight ETF (QQEW) tracks the Nasdaq-100 through an equal-weight methodology -- meaning each of the index's roughly 100 holdings receives a similar allocation, rather than concentrating heavily in the largest companies.
- Designed to reduce the mega-cap dominance common in market-cap-weighted Nasdaq ETFs like QQQ.
- Holds a diversified mix of large-cap U.S. growth equities, rebalanced on a rules-based schedule.
What this transaction means for investors
At first glance, selling more than 60% of an ETF position looks significant -- but some context helps put this move in perspective. Gratus is a wealth management firm, and the 13F filing reflects a snapshot of holdings at quarter-end rather than a real-time window into the firm's thinking. The filing alone doesn't tell us why the position was trimmed.
That said, the sale comes against a backdrop of relative underperformance. QQEW has gained about 12% over the past year, but it has lagged the S&P 500 by roughly 16 percentage points over that stretch -- a meaningful gap for any position in a managed portfolio. Equal-weight strategies like QQEW tend to shine when smaller and mid-cap names in the Nasdaq keep pace with -- or outrun -- the mega-cap leaders. In periods where a handful of giants (like the Magnificent 7 stocks) are doing the heavy lifting for the index, an equal-weight approach will naturally trail the cap-weighted alternative.
It’s also worth noting that Gratus still holds a substantial position in the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ +2.48%) -- $37.0 million -- providing continued Nasdaq-100 exposure through the cap-weighted version of the same index.
For long-term investors, the equal-weight approach offers genuine diversification benefits over time and can limit concentration risk relative to market-cap-weighted funds. But when the market's biggest names are driving returns, the equal-weight trade-off comes at a cost -- and that dynamic has been on full display over the past year.
As for why Gratus trimmed the position -- whether it's QQEW's recent underperformance, a decision to redeploy capital into other parts of the portfolio, or simply routine rebalancing -- we can’t be sure. Whether QQEW's relative underperformance persists will depend largely on how broad -- or narrow -- market leadership turns out to be going forward.
