Ways to avoid the increasing S&P 500 concentration

Betashares executive director Hugh Stevens says his company’s S&P 500 Index Equal Weight Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) is one way a retail investor seeking exposure to US stocks can solve the increasing concentration of the market-weighted benchmark S&P 500.

The equal weight index that the ETF tracks has a history dating back to 1970, although the Betashares ETF was only launched in December 2020, and Stevens says the equal weight index has consistently outperformed the benchmark.

“It gives you diversification. Fundamentally, the rationale is that if you feel that the capital expenditure going into AI particularly, and into other technology from the “magnificent seven” is over-extended, and you think the benefits from fiscal stimulus and any growth in the US economy is going to be more broadly based, this is a fund that gives you exposure to the rest of the US economy,” Stevens says.

The ETF has reached nearly A$1 billion in funds under management (FUM) with inflows of about A$190 million during 2025.