S&P 500 at Historic Highs: This ETF Could Be Your Smartest Play Right Now
Markets hit unprecedented territory—again. The S&P 500 rockets past previous benchmarks, leaving traditional investors scrambling for safe entry points.
The ETF Advantage
Exchange-traded funds slice through market complexity like a hot knife through butter. No more picking individual stocks or timing perfect entries—just pure index exposure with institutional efficiency.
Why This Fund Stands Out
While Wall Street analysts debate valuation metrics, this particular ETF structure bypasses the noise. Lower fees than actively managed funds, instant diversification, and liquidity that puts mutual funds to shame.
Strategic Positioning
Forget trying to beat the market—owning the entire index through this vehicle captures growth while minimizing single-stock risk. Perfect for investors who prefer their returns without the hedge fund ego.
Bottom line: When traditional finance overcomplicates everything, sometimes the smartest move is the simplest one. Even if it means admitting index funds outperform most money managers.
Image source: Getty Images.
The equal-weight S&P 500
Meet the(RSP -0.20%). Just like the popular S&P 500 ETFs, like the(VOO -0.31%), it invests in all 500 companies that make up the index, but with one big difference. Instead of each stock having a performance effect, or weight, proportional to its market cap, each one counts the same. To illustrate this, consider how the largest companies in the stock market affect each fund.
|
Nvidia (NVDA) |
8.1% |
0.2% |
|
Microsoft (MSFT 0.23%) |
7.4% |
0.2% |
|
Apple (AAPL -0.84%) |
5.8% |
0.2% |
|
Amazon.com (AMZN -0.28%) |
4.1% |
0.2% |
|
Alphabet (GOOG)(GOOGL) |
3.7% |
0.2% |
Data source: Vanguard. Weights as of 8/31/2025.
Another way to think about this is that companies like Nvidia and Microsoft have the exact same weight in the fund as smaller S&P 500 components such as(MKC 1.40%) and(BBY 1.47%).
Why invest in the equal-weight S&P 500?
There is a value and performance disconnect between the big-cap tech stocks (and the tech sector in general) and the rest of the S&P 500. Investing in the equal-weight version can help you get more exposure to the other areas of the market that aren't trading at such frothy valuations. It can also insulate you from volatility in those larger names.
For example, if Nvidia has a terrible day, it can drag the entire S&P 500 down all by itself (and it's happened on numerous occasions). With the equal-weight ETF, even if one of the components plunges by 50%, the overall effect on your investment would be minimal.
Finally, don't think that you're giving up long-term return potential just because the equal-weight ETF has less exposure to the large, high-flying stocks. In fact, since 1990, the S&P 500 Equal Weight index has outperformed the standard S&P 500 --
Of course, there are some drawbacks to consider, and cost is a big one. While the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has an expense ratio of just 0.03%, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF has a significantly higher 0.20% annual fee structure. This is still rather low for an ETF, and a slightly higher fee is to be expected with a more unique or specialized ETF, but it's worth taking into account.
With the markets at record highs and a performance disconnect between the largest of the large U.S. companies and everything else, investing in the equal-weight version makes a lot of sense right now.
