A Different Kind of Index
The S&P Equal Weight Index starts with the same 500 companies as the headline index and then throws out the size ranking. Every member gets an identical weight of about 0.20%. No company is more important than any other, whether it is worth three trillion dollars or thirty billion.
The effect is subtle but real. The index tilts toward smaller companies and away from the mega-caps that dominate the standard version. For a fuller explanation of why that matters, start with our guide to how the S&P 500 is weighted.
The Quarterly Reset
Equal weight only stays equal if someone rebalances it. Every quarter the index resets each holding back to its target slice. That means trimming the names that ran up and adding to the names that fell, a mechanical buy low, sell high discipline baked into the structure.
That discipline is part of what Larry Benedict’s Project 2026 thesis is counting on. If Section 232 and Section 301 trade reviews push money out of the market’s biggest names, the reset process automatically channels some of the next leg of gains into the broader market.
How to Invest in It
The most direct vehicle is the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF, ticker RSP, which held about 505 positions and roughly $99 billion in assets as of August 12, 2026. It charges a 0.20% expense ratio and yielded about 1.49%.
RSP returned roughly 13.9% year to date through mid-August, ahead of the standard S&P 500’s 11.6%. If you want the full picture on the fund, our S&P 500 equal weight ETF explainer covers the details and the offer behind the campaign.
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