1 Top ETF I Plan to Load Up on in 2026

With whatever funds I have available to invest in 2026, there's a particular ETF that I have my eye on: the Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF (NYSEMKT: EQAL). (As you may know, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a fund that trades like a stock, so you can buy or sell shares of it anytime during the trading day via any good brokerage.)

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Here's why I like the Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF:

• Its expense ratio (annual fee), at 0.20%, is fairly low, costing you just $20 each year for every $10,000 you have invested in the fund.
• It pays a meaningful dividend, offering welcome income that's likely to increase over time. The ETF's dividend yield was recently 1.8%. (For contrast, the yield for the S&P 500 index was recently just 1.1%.)
• It's a very broad index, like the S&P 500 index -- but even broader. The S&P 500 encompasses 500 of America's biggest companies, and so does the Invesco Russell ETF. But the latter includes about twice as many companies, not just really big ones but also many medium-sized ones.
• It's an equal-weighted fund. Whereas lots of index funds tend to be market-cap weighted, with the biggest companies in them wielding the most influence, this equal-weighted fund spreads its assets much more equally (but not absolutely equally) across its holdings. Thus, even its smallest holdings have a chance of moving the needle.
• It doesn't suffer from the significant concentration of S&P 500 index funds, which recently held about 39% of the index's value in just its top 10 holdings.
• It has performed well over time -- averaging annual gains of 10.2% over the past decade and 8.1% over the past five years.

Finally, its broadness is also appealing. It means I don't have to guess which sectors will outperform. If one sector implodes for a while, this ETF won't. If the growth in artificial intelligence suddenly slows or stops, it won't deal a death blow to the ETF.

Selena Maranjian has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.