Equal Weight S&P 500 vs the Regular Index: 23 Years of Data
The top 10 stocks now make up 38.9% of the S&P 500. We compared the equal-weight version across 23 years of total returns to see when it wins, when it loses, and why.
Key takeaways
- Since May 2003, equal-weight RSP returned +1,080% vs +1,184% for SPY (11.1% vs 11.5% a year, dividends reinvested).
- Equal weight led by a wide margin until 2015 but has lost 30.4% relative to cap weight since April 2015.
- The top 10 holdings were 38.9% of SPY on Oct 1, 2026, led by NVIDIA at 8.45%.
- Equal weight wins in broad recoveries and when mega-caps crash (2009, 2022); it loses when a few giants lead (2023–2025).
- Equal weight is not lower-risk: its worst drawdown was −59.9% vs −55.2% for SPY.
Short answer: since its launch in May 2003, the equal-weight S&P 500 fund (RSP) has returned +1,080% with dividends reinvested. Over the same period, the regular cap-weighted S&P 500 fund (SPY) returned +1,184%, about 11.1% versus 11.5% a year. Over 23 years that is close. The path was not. Equal weight was well ahead until 2015, then fell badly behind as a handful of mega-cap tech stocks took over the index. As of October 1, 2026, the ten largest holdings make up 38.9% of the regular index.
This guide explains how equal weighting works and compares the two versions year by year, using total-return data we calculated ourselves. It then covers what today's record concentration means for anyone choosing between them.
What is the equal-weight S&P 500?
The regular S&P 500 is market-cap weighted: each company counts in proportion to its total stock-market value. The biggest companies dominate. In State Street's SPY holdings file dated October 1, 2026, NVIDIA alone is 8.45% of the fund, Apple 7.30% and Microsoft 5.76%.
The S&P 500 Equal Weight Index holds the same companies, but gives each one the same weight, about 0.2% each. It is rebalanced back to equal weights every quarter. NVIDIA and the smallest company in the index count exactly the same.
The best-known fund tracking it is the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (ticker RSP). It closed at $209.73 on October 2, 2026, compared with $769.64 for SPY.
Three things equal weighting changes
- Size tilt. Smaller and mid-sized companies get far more weight than in the regular index, so equal weight behaves more like a mid-cap fund.
- Sector mix. Technology loses weight. Industrials, utilities, real estate, materials and consumer sectors gain, because they contain many companies of modest size.
- Built-in rebalancing. Every quarter the fund sells some of what went up and buys some of what went down. That is a contrarian habit. It helps when leadership rotates and hurts when the same winners keep winning.
How concentrated is the S&P 500 right now?
These are the ten largest holdings in SPY as of October 1, 2026:
| Company | Ticker | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | NVDA | 8.45% |
| Apple | AAPL | 7.30% |
| Microsoft | MSFT | 5.76% |
| Amazon | AMZN | 3.69% |
| Alphabet (Class A) | GOOGL | 3.00% |
| Broadcom | AVGO | 2.47% |
| Meta Platforms | META | 2.42% |
| Alphabet (Class C) | GOOG | 2.41% |
| Micron Technology | MU | 1.88% |
| Advanced Micro Devices | AMD | 1.52% |
| Top 10 total | 38.9% |
Ten lines, from nine companies, account for nearly two-fifths of an index that holds about 500 companies. Seven of the nine are semiconductor or big-tech businesses. If you own a regular S&P 500 fund, a large part of your result now depends on the AI and chip trade. In the equal-weight version, those same ten lines total roughly 2%.
Equal weight vs cap weight: the long-run scoreboard
We used daily adjusted closing prices for RSP and SPY from Yahoo Finance. Adjusted prices include reinvested dividends, so these are total returns after each fund's fees. The data runs from RSP's first trading day in our data (May 1, 2003) to October 2, 2026.
| Measure | Equal weight (RSP) | Cap weight (SPY) |
|---|---|---|
| Total return, May 2003 to Oct 2026 | +1,080% | +1,184% |
| Annualized return | 11.11% | 11.51% |
| Total return, May 2003 to end of 2015 | +260% | +186% |
| Total return since Jan 2023 | +58.2% | +111.9% |
| Worst peak-to-trough drop | −59.9% | −55.2% |
| Calendar years ahead (2004–2025) | 10 of 22 | 12 of 22 |
Two stories hide inside one similar long-run number. From 2003 to 2015, equal weight crushed the regular index, +260% versus +186%. The relative performance of RSP against SPY peaked on April 6, 2015. Since then, equal weight has lost 30.4% relative to cap weight. Most of that gap opened after 2023.
Year by year: when equal weight wins
| Year | RSP | SPY | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | +16.5% | +10.7% | +5.8 |
| 2005 | +7.4% | +4.8% | +2.6 |
| 2006 | +15.5% | +15.8% | −0.4 |
| 2007 | +0.9% | +5.1% | −4.2 |
| 2008 | −40.1% | −36.8% | −3.3 |
| 2009 | +44.6% | +26.4% | +18.3 |
| 2010 | +21.4% | +15.1% | +6.3 |
| 2011 | −0.7% | +1.9% | −2.6 |
| 2012 | +17.2% | +16.0% | +1.2 |
| 2013 | +35.5% | +32.3% | +3.2 |
| 2014 | +14.1% | +13.5% | +0.6 |
| 2015 | −2.7% | +1.2% | −3.9 |
| 2016 | +14.5% | +12.0% | +2.5 |
| 2017 | +18.5% | +21.7% | −3.2 |
| 2018 | −7.8% | −4.6% | −3.3 |
| 2019 | +28.9% | +31.2% | −2.3 |
| 2020 | +12.7% | +18.3% | −5.7 |
| 2021 | +29.4% | +28.7% | +0.7 |
| 2022 | −11.6% | −18.2% | +6.6 |
| 2023 | +13.7% | +26.2% | −12.5 |
| 2024 | +12.8% | +24.9% | −12.1 |
| 2025 | +11.2% | +17.7% | −6.5 |
| 2026 (to Oct 2) | +10.8% | +13.7% | −3.0 |
The pattern is consistent. Equal weight wins in broad recoveries, when smaller and cyclical companies rebound hardest: 2009 (+18.3 points), 2010 and 2016. It also wins when mega-cap leaders crash, as in 2022, when big tech fell hardest and equal weight lost 6.6 points less. It loses when a narrow group of giants keeps leading: 2020, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Equal weight trailed by more than 12 points in both 2023 and 2024, the two worst years in its history against the regular index.
Equal weight is not a safer fund
A common myth is that spreading money evenly makes the fund less risky. Our data says otherwise. RSP's worst drop, during the 2008–09 financial crisis, was −59.9%, deeper than SPY's −55.2%. It lagged in 2008 and 2018. Smaller companies tend to fall harder in recessions. Equal weight reduces single-stock concentration risk, not market risk.
Why the gap has been so wide since 2023
The regular index has been carried by a small group of companies tied to AI spending: chipmakers like NVIDIA, Broadcom, Micron and AMD, and the cloud giants buying their chips. As these stocks rose, their weights grew, which made them drive more of the index's return. Equal weight trimmed them back to about 0.2% every quarter and missed most of that compounding.
That is the trade-off. Cap weighting lets winners run, while equal weighting keeps selling them. When leadership is narrow and persistent, cap weight wins. When it broadens or reverses, equal weight wins. The same reasoning appears in other market signals. Breadth matters for how much weight to put on a golden cross, and seasonal patterns like Sell in May look different in narrow markets.
Should you choose equal weight now?
Nobody can time the next change in leadership, but the case on each side is clear.
The case for adding equal weight
- Concentration is extreme. At 38.9%, the top ten carry a lot of single-theme risk. Equal weight is a simple way to diversify away from it without leaving the S&P 500.
- History of catch-up phases. Equal weight has had multi-year runs of outperformance before, such as 2003–2006 and 2009–2014, often after periods of narrow leadership.
- A hedge against an AI-trade unwind. In 2022, when big tech was hit hardest, equal weight lost 6.6 points less.
The case against
- Momentum can last. Equal weight has trailed for most of the past decade. Investors who switched early "because concentration is high" have waited years.
- Higher costs. Quarterly rebalancing means more trading, and RSP charges a higher expense ratio than the cheapest cap-weighted S&P 500 funds. Check current fees on the issuers' pages.
- Not lower risk. Drawdowns in recessions have been at least as deep.
How investors often use it
Few long-term investors go all-in on one version. A common approach is a blend: keep a core cap-weighted fund and add an equal-weight slice to dilute concentration. Another is to treat the RSP/SPY ratio as a breadth gauge. A rising ratio says the rally is broadening, and a falling ratio says a few giants are doing the work. Traders who want to act on that view can follow the trend in both funds on our technical analysis tool, or see index setups on our indices signals hub. Options sentiment such as the put/call ratio adds more context.
If you want to trade the US 500 or these ETFs directly, open a trading account. Size positions for the fact that leadership changes rarely arrive on schedule.
Bottom line
Over 23 years, the equal-weight and regular S&P 500 ended up surprisingly close: 11.1% versus 11.5% a year. The difference is what you are betting on. Cap weight bets that today's giants keep winning. Equal weight bets on the average company, and that leadership eventually broadens. With the top ten at 38.9% of the index, that choice matters more than at any time in the fund's history.
Methodology: RSP and SPY daily adjusted closes (dividends reinvested) from Yahoo Finance, May 1, 2003 to October 2, 2026, retrieved October 3, 2026. Calendar-year returns use the last trading day of each year. SPY top holdings from State Street's daily holdings file dated October 1, 2026. Past performance does not guarantee future results. This article is educational and is not investment advice.
Sources & methodology
Primary sources and datasets referenced in this article. How we source, verify and date our reporting is set out in our editorial policy & methodology.
- Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) historical prices— Yahoo Finance · retrieved 3 Oct 2026 · as of 2 Oct 2026Daily adjusted closes used for all RSP total-return calculations
- SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) historical prices— Yahoo Finance · retrieved 3 Oct 2026 · as of 2 Oct 2026Daily adjusted closes used for all SPY total-return calculations
- SPY daily holdings— State Street Global Advisors · retrieved 3 Oct 2026 · as of 1 Oct 2026Top-10 holdings weights and concentration figure
- S&P 500 Equal Weight Index— S&P Dow Jones Indices · retrieved 3 Oct 2026Index methodology: equal weighting with quarterly rebalancing