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Is Invesco S&P 100 Equal Weight ETF (EQWL) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Launched on 12/01/2006, the Invesco S&P 100 Equal Weight ETF (EQWL - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Because the fund has amassed over $1.27 billion, this makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. EQWL is managed by Invesco. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Russell Top 200 Equal Weight Index.

The S&P 100 Equal Weight Index is designed to provide equal-weighted exposure to the securities of the largest 200 companies in the US equity market.

Cost & Other Expenses

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.25%.

EQWL's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.87%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 19% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector; Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Unitedhealth Group Inc (UNH - Free Report) accounts for about 1.20% of the fund's total assets, followed by At&t Inc (T - Free Report) and American Tower Corp (AMT - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 11.13% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, EQWL has gained about 3.24%, and is up roughly 14.11% in the last one year (as of 05/13/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $91.62 and $108.28.

EQWL has a beta of 0.95 and standard deviation of 16.14% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 103 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P 100 Equal Weight ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY - Free Report) tracks S&P 500 Index and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO - Free Report) tracks S&P 500 Index. SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $592.21 billion in assets, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has $636.46 billion. SPY has an expense ratio of 0.09% and VOO charges 0.03%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Large Cap Blend.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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