We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience.
This includes personalizing content and advertising.
By pressing "Accept All" or closing out of this banner, you consent to the use of all cookies and similar technologies and the sharing of information they collect with third parties.
You can reject marketing cookies by pressing "Deny Optional," but we still use essential, performance, and functional cookies.
In addition, whether you "Accept All," Deny Optional," click the X or otherwise continue to use the site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, revised from time to time.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Is First Trust NASDAQ-100 Select Equal Weight ETF (QQEW) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Read MoreHide Full Article
Launched on 04/19/2006, the First Trust NASDAQ-100 Select Equal Weight ETF (QQEW - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
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
The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors, and has been able to amass over $1.75 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Growth. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index.
The Nasdaq-100 Select Equal Weight Index is designed to track the performance of the 50 companies from the Nasdaq-100 Index with the highest combined Blended Quality and Growth scores.
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.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.55% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.20%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For QQEW, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 56.3% of the portfolio --while Healthcare and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, Arm Holdings Plc (ARM) accounts for about 4.18% of the fund's total assets, followed by Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) and Seagate Technology Holdings Plc (STX).
The top 10 holdings account for about 31.22% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the First Trust NASDAQ-100 Select Equal Weight ETF has added about 9.39% so far, and was up about 12.8% over the last 12 months (as of 07/22/2026). QQEW has traded between $123.05 $161.85 in this past 52-week period.
QQEW has a beta of 1.07 and standard deviation of 18.19% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 50 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers .
Alternatives
First Trust NASDAQ-100 Select Equal Weight ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.
Vanguard Growth Index Fund ETF Shares (VUG) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Growth Index and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) tracks NASDAQ-100 Index. Vanguard Growth Index Fund ETF Shares has $222.94 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $475.24 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.03% and QQQ changes 0.18%.
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 Growth
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.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
Is First Trust NASDAQ-100 Select Equal Weight ETF (QQEW) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Launched on 04/19/2006, the First Trust NASDAQ-100 Select Equal Weight ETF (QQEW - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
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
The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors, and has been able to amass over $1.75 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Growth. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index.
The Nasdaq-100 Select Equal Weight Index is designed to track the performance of the 50 companies from the Nasdaq-100 Index with the highest combined Blended Quality and Growth scores.
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.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.55% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.20%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For QQEW, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 56.3% of the portfolio --while Healthcare and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, Arm Holdings Plc (ARM) accounts for about 4.18% of the fund's total assets, followed by Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) and Seagate Technology Holdings Plc (STX).
The top 10 holdings account for about 31.22% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the First Trust NASDAQ-100 Select Equal Weight ETF has added about 9.39% so far, and was up about 12.8% over the last 12 months (as of 07/22/2026). QQEW has traded between $123.05 $161.85 in this past 52-week period.
QQEW has a beta of 1.07 and standard deviation of 18.19% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 50 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers .
Alternatives
First Trust NASDAQ-100 Select Equal Weight ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.
Vanguard Growth Index Fund ETF Shares (VUG) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Growth Index and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) tracks NASDAQ-100 Index. Vanguard Growth Index Fund ETF Shares has $222.94 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $475.24 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.03% and QQQ changes 0.18%.
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 Growth
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.