Equal-weight technology beat the biggest tech funds this year

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Technology ETF RSPT returned 41.6% over the year through Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. That was 16 percentage points more than Vanguard Information Technology ETF VGT, the largest broad technology fund, and 14 percentage points more than State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF XLK.

Twenty-five funds make up that group, including the large index funds, software funds and a small-company fund. The median return of all 25 was 24.4% over that year, 10 percentage points ahead of State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY, which returned 14.4%.

Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft dominated the biggest funds

VGT held $154.5 billion on Sept. 30, Vanguard's fact sheet said, and it charges 0.09%. It holds U.S. technology companies from large to small.

Fidelity MSCI Information Technology Index ETF FTEC holds that same range of companies. It charges 0.08% and returned 25.8%, next to 25.6% for VGT.

XLK owns the technology companies in the S&P 500, charges 0.08%, and returned 27.4%.

On Sept. 30, State Street's fact sheet showed 74 companies in XLK, with Nvidia at 15.5%, Apple at 13.6% and Microsoft at 10.7%. The same three were 17.6%, 15.9% and 11.2% of VGT. Together they were about 45% of VGT and about 40% of XLK.

Through Oct. 23, Microsoft's share price rose 0.8% and Nvidia's rose 16%. Apple's rose 34%.

RSPT owns the same S&P 500 technology companies as XLK. It gives each the same weight and resets the weights every quarter, so those three are a few percent of the fund combined, not the 40% to 45% they were in the big funds. Microsoft, up 0.8%, was about a tenth of XLK and one holding among many in RSPT.

Micron Technology more than quadrupled. It was 4.5% of VGT and 4.5% of XLK at the end of September. In RSPT, where every company is reset to the same weight each quarter, Micron is not a 4.5% holding. The gain counted for more in the funds that trailed.

RSPT charges 0.40% a year, 0.32 percentage points more than XLK. The return gap against XLK was 14 percentage points.

The third quarter, ended Sept. 30, did not create that gap. RSPT returned 2.2% and XLK returned 2.9%. VGT returned 5.3%, ahead of SPY at 2.4%.

The software fund lost on the year and rose in the quarter

iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF IGV lost 3.6% over the year through Oct. 23, including dividends. In the third quarter its share price rose 17.5%.

The fund tracks North American software companies and a selection of interactive media firms. iShares' fact sheet put it at $13.9 billion on Sept. 30.

CrowdStrike's share price rose 97% over the year through Oct. 23. Oracle's fell 55%. The same fact sheet listed CrowdStrike at 8.9% of the fund and Oracle at 6.9%.

A holder of VGT or XLK had about 40% to 45% of the fund in three companies, including a nearly flat Microsoft and Nvidia, up 16%. A holder of RSPT had those three at a few percent combined. A holder of IGV had software, and lost money.