What the Equal Weighted Index Is
The S&P 500 Equal Weight Index takes the same 500 companies as the standard index and hands each one an equal share, about 0.20% per name. It carries the ticker SPXEW, and it is the underlying benchmark for one of the most direct ways to de-concentrate a portfolio.
Because it ignores company size, the index gives the Forgotten 493 far more influence than they get in the standard, capitalization-weighted version. A quarterly rebalance resets every holding back to its equal slice, which forces the index to sell winners and buy laggards.
The RSP ETF Tracks It
The easiest way to own the index is the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF, ticker RSP. It held about 505 positions as of August 12, 2026, with roughly $99 billion in assets, a 0.20% expense ratio, and a 1.49% dividend yield. The fund traded at $221.08 against a net asset value of $220.22.
RSP is the single ticker at the center of Larry Benedict’s Project 2026 pitch. The thesis is that the trade reviews under Section 232 and Section 301 will rotate capital out of the giants and into the broad market, which an equal weight fund captures more fully than a top-heavy index. We compare the two approaches directly in our RSP versus SPY piece.
How It Has Performed
The numbers give the argument some support. Year to date through August 12, 2026, RSP returned about 13.9%, while the standard S&P 500 returned about 11.6%. Equal weight won this stretch because the lagging giants held the cap-weighted index back.
That gap will not always favor equal weight. In years when the biggest companies lead, the equal weight index trails. For the mechanics behind the benchmark, see our guide to how the S&P 500 is weighted.
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