Is Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF (EQAL) a Strong ETF Right Now?

The Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF (EQAL) was launched on 12/23/2014, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

EQAL is managed by Invesco, and this fund has amassed over $783.23 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Russell 1000 Equal Weight Index before fees and expenses.

The Russell 1000 Equal Weight Index is composed of securities in the Russell 1000 Index and is equally weighted across nine sector groups with each security within the sector receiving equal weight.

Cost & Other Expenses

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.20% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.65%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 11.5% of the portfolio. Industrials and Energy round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Lumentum Holdings Inc (LITE) accounts for about 0.71% of the fund's total assets, followed by Millicom International Cellular Sa (TIGO) and Ubiquiti Inc (UI).

EQAL's top 10 holdings account for about 5.61% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 8.34% so far this year and is up about 19.55% in the last one year (as of 03/04/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $41.38 and $57.84

The fund has a beta of 0.95 and standard deviation of 15.22% for the trailing three-year period, which makes EQAL a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 996 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) tracks S&P 500 Index and the Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF Shares (VOO) tracks S&P 500 Index. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $744.22 billion in assets, Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF Shares has $847.93 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VOO changes 0.03%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Large Cap Blend

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF (EQAL): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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