The S&P 500, which tracks the 500 largest U.S. companies on the market, is the stock market's most important index. It's become the benchmark for measuring stock and exchange-traded fund (ETF) performance locally and abroad.
Unfortunately, even the S&P 500 isn't immune to high volatility, as we've seen in the days following President Donald Trump's new tariff plan. The plan has sparked concerns about higher costs, reduced consumer spending, and increased recession chances.
Despite the uncertainty in the stock market, the S&P 500 is one of the best investments anyone can make. However, given the current environment, investors could take a different approach to investing in the S&P 500 by buying shares of the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP 0.61%).
^SPX data by YCharts. Year-to-date percentage change as of April 14.
The S&P 500 is too top-heavy right now
The S&P 500 is market cap-weighted, so larger companies account for more of the index than smaller companies. This has always been the case, but the problem is that megacap stocks (especially in the tech sector) have shot up in valuation over the past few years, and now the S&P 500 is a little too top-heavy.
Below is how much the S&P 500's top 10 holdings are represented in both the standard S&P 500 and the equal-weight ETF:
| Company | Percentage of S&P 500 | Percentage of Equal-Weight ETF |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | 7.24% | 0.19% |
| Nvidia | 6.07% | 0.20% |
| Microsoft | 5.85% | 0.21% |
| Amazon | 3.93% | 0.19% |
| Meta Platforms | 2.88% | 0.18% |
| Alphabet (Class A) | 1.97% | 0.11% |
| Berkshire Hathaway | 1.87% | 0.22% |
| Broadcom | 1.84% | 0.20% |
| Alphabet (Class C) | 1.62% | 0.09% |
| Tesla | 1.62% | 0.21% |
Data source: Vanguard and Invesco. S&P 500 percentages as of Feb. 28. Equal-weight percentages as of April 11.
There's a stark difference between 10 companies making up 34% of an index and those same companies comprising 1.8%. When it's going well, it can go very well. When it's going badly, it can go very badly. Other than Berkshire Hathaway, every stock in the S&P 500's top 10 holdings is down year to date through April 14 and has weighed on the index.
The equal-weight S&P 500 doesn't rely as heavily on the tech sector
The equal-weight ETF helps hedge against concentration risks, especially with the "Magnificent Seven" stocks and the tech sector. Every sector will likely face challenges with the Trump administration's new tariff plan, but the tech sector could be more vulnerable because of how many top companies rely on imports from countries like China and Taiwan.
I don't see the tech sector stalling or losing long-term growth potential, but investors could lean more toward dividend and value stocks until some of the tariff-related uncertainty works itself out. With the equal-weight ETF, your exposure is more evenly spread between sectors:
| Sector | Equal-Weight S&P 500 ETF | Standard S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Industrials | 15.79% | 8.3% |
| Financials | 14.69% | 14.5% |
| Information technology | 13.31% | 30.7% |
| Health care | 11.82% | 10.8% |
| Consumer discretionary | 10.02% | 10.5% |
| Consumer staples | 8.02% | 5.9% |
| Utilities | 6.52% | 2.4% |
| Real estate | 6.09% | 2.2% |
| Materials | 5.10% | 2% |
| Energy | 4.31% | 3.3% |
| Communication services | 4.03% | 9.4% |
Data source: Invesco and Vanguard. Equal-weight percentages as of April 11. S&P 500 percentages as of Feb. 28
The S&P 500 is meant to give a snapshot of the U.S. economy. The equal-weight ETF ensures a more balanced representation instead of one skewed by a handful of megacap tech companies.
The equal-weight ETF has outperformed the S&P 500
Going for the equal-weight ETF doesn't mean giving up your chance for high growth. In fact, since it hit the market in April 2003, the equal-weight ETF has outperformed the S&P 500.
I still believe the standard S&P 500 should be the foundation of most investors' portfolios, but the equal-weight ETF can be a great complement to the top-heavy nature of the S&P 500.
