Among the alternative avenues for accessing the S&P 500, the Guggenheim S&P Equal Weight ETF (NYSEArca: RSP) is one of the sturdier options.
Nearly 11 years old, RSP has a long enough track record to make comparisons to the market capitalization-weighted S&P 500 relevant and the size (over $6.7 billion in assets under management) to prove advisors and investors have embraced the idea of equal weighting the benchmark U.S. index.
An equal weight spin on the S&P 500 means reduced dependence on mega-caps like Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) with increased exposure to the smaller stocks that often account for scant percentages of traditional S&P 500 ETFs. [What an Equal Weight S&P 500 ETF Offers]
It is that increased small-cap exposure that makes RSP a worthwhile gauge of risk appetite within the broader market.
Greg Harmon of Dragonfly Capital notes RSP has been telling a different story than the S&P 500 and that is not a bad thing as RSP is up 2.5%, better than double the cap-weighted index.
“There was a false breakdown to start the month and a now a breakout of resistance to new highs. Sit down and think about what this means. The Cap Weighted SPY is level while the Equal Weighted RSP is making new highs. Same 500 stocks. For one thing it shows that smaller stocks in the index are leading. Second the broad market is increasing, just not in a cap weighted manner. This could ultimately pullback as well but for now it shows that the securities in the S&P 500 are healthy and their stocks are moving higher, just not in a way that index traders like,” writes Harmon.