With over 1,400 exchange traded funds at their fingertips, investors have a lot of options to choose from as there are multiple fund options that cover the same market segment.
For instance, investors have tracked the Nasdaq-100 through the popularly traded PowerShares QQQ ETF (QQQ) , which rose 3.4% over the past three months, but people may also consider the Direxion Nasdaq-100 Equal Weight Index Shares (QQQE) , which increased 11.7% over the last three months, as an alternative. Nevertheless, as with all investment options, individuals should still take the time to look under the hood and make sure they know how the products work. [Nasdaq ETF Lagging S&P 500 on Apple Wipeout]
Since the Nasdaq is filled with tech giants, the ETFs that track the index will also heavily lean toward technology stocks, writes Michael Fowlkes for Market Intelligence Center.
Specifically, QQQ holds over 50% of its portfolio in tech companies, and its top ten holdings make up over 55% of the fund, with Apple (AAPL) accounting for 16% of the overall weighting and Microsoft (NasadaqGS:MSFT) at 9%.
Unsatisfied with the heavy large-cap methodology found in QQQ, some investors have turned to the QQQE ETF, which equally weights each holding. Consequently, QQQE’s Apple allocations accounts for just 1% of the fund’s’ holdings. Looking at the latest performances between QQQ and QQQE, the Apple factor has played a heavy role in QQQ’s recent underperformance. [Equal-Weight Nasdaq ETF to Get Around the Apple Factor]
With an equal weight methodology, the ETF is less top heavy as the top 10 Nasdaq-100 companies would only represent 10% of the holdings. Additionally, the fund would emphasize mid- and small-cap companies.
For more information on the NASDAQ, visit our NASDAQ category.
Full disclosure: Tom Lydon’s clients own QQQ, AAPL and MSFT.
Max Chen contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.
