Key Points
Standard S&P 500 index funds -- and many others -- are market-cap-weighted.
Thus, they're very concentrated, with relatively few holdings moving the needle a lot.
This S&P 500 index fund -- by sharp contrast -- holds each component in equal measure.
If you've done much reading at Fool.com or at many other financial sites, you'll likely have run across recommendations of low-fee S&P 500 index funds such as the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO). Heck, even Warren Buffett has recommended them.
It's hard to argue with such a recommendation -- but I'll try. First, though, some upsides:
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks »
Image source: Getty Images.
- According to the folks at S&P Dow Jones Indices, over the past 15 years, the S&P 500 index has outperformed a whopping 88% of managed large-cap mutual funds (as of June 30), and it has outperformed 86% over the past decade.
- The S&P 500 is updated regularly, so it stays current. Fading companies are removed to make way for up-and-comers.
So what's the problem? Well, the S&P 500 is market-cap-weighted, meaning that the bigger the component company, the more influence it will wield on the index. The top five stocks in the index -- Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon.com, and Meta Platforms -- recently made up nearly 28% of the fund, even though they were only 1% of the 500 components.
That's great as long as such companies are growing briskly. But if one or more of them pulls back sharply, so will the entire index.
You can avoid such concentration by opting for the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (NYSEMKT: RSP), which holds each of its 500-some components in roughly equal proportion. The Invesco equal-weight ETF's top holdings would, therefore, make up only about 1% or 2% of the overall ETF value. When smaller components outperform bigger ones, this ETF will perform better than its more typical counterparts.
Learn more about the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF and see if it makes sense for your long-term portfolio. It's likely to grow at a solid pace over the coming years, with a bit less risk.
Should you invest $1,000 in Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF right now?
Before you buy stock in Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $600,550!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,116,616!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,032% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 192% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 20, 2025
Selena Maranjian has positions in Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.