For a while after COVID, the playbook felt simple. If you wanted to beat the S&P 500, you just leaned harder into what was already working. That meant piling into the Magnificent Seven and other mega-cap tech growth names that dominated index returns.
But that kind of concentration doesn’t last forever. So far this year, leadership has started to shift. Instead of a handful of tech giants carrying the market, a wider range of sectors and strategies are starting to pull their weight. Some less obvious ETFs are quietly outperforming, according to data from testfolio.io.
| ETF Name | AUM | Expense Ratio | YTD Total Return as of March 23 |
| SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY | $651.31 billion | 0.0945% | -3.63% |
| Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (NYSEMKT: RSP) | $84.26 billion | 0.2% | +0.49% |
| VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NYSE MKT: NLR | $4.54 billion | 0.56% | +6.16% |
| Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (NASDAQ: VXUS) | $145.8 billion | 0.05% | +1.62% |
Equal-Weight S&P 500
The traditional S&P 500 is market cap weighted. The larger a company’s market value, calculated as share price times shares outstanding, the more influence it has in the index. In a strong bull market, this works in your favor. Winners keep getting bigger weights, which creates a built-in momentum effect.
The downside shows up later in the cycle. If you’re buying after a prolonged run, you’re often getting the heaviest exposure to the most crowded trades. That concentration can work against you if leadership starts to rotate.
RSP takes a different approach. Every quarter, each of the 500 companies is reset to roughly a 0.2% weight, regardless of size. That forces a systematic rebalance that trims winners and adds to laggards. It’s a simple structure, but it creates a natural buy low, sell high effect.
You do pay more for it. RSP charges more than double SPY’s fee. But in exchange, you get significantly less concentration risk and more balanced exposure across sectors and market caps.
In narrow, top-heavy markets, you should expect RSP to lag. That’s exactly what happened during the post-COVID rally when mega-cap tech dominated returns. This year, the opposite dynamic is playing out. As market leadership broadens, RSP is benefiting from exposure to areas of the market that were previously overlooked.
If you want to stay invested in U.S. equities while leaning slightly against the most crowded trades, I think this is one of the simplest and least complicated ways to do it.
Nuclear and Uranium
Thematic ETFs can be hit or miss, and common issue is timing. Many of these funds launch at the peak of a hype cycle, attract heavy inflows, and leave investors holding the bag as valuations normalize and interest fades.
NLR is not one of those cases. This ETF has been around since August 2007, which gives it a full track record across multiple market cycles. It does come with a higher 0.56% expense ratio, but that hasn’t stopped investors from allocating capital to the strategy.
One important distinction is that NLR is not a pure-play uranium miner ETF. Instead of focusing only on companies that extract uranium, it takes a broader approach. The portfolio includes utilities and industrial firms involved in building, maintaining, and operating nuclear power infrastructure, as well as companies that generate electricity from nuclear energy.
That matters. It means the ETF isn’t solely dependent on uranium prices. It also benefits from the broader nuclear value chain, including long-term power generation and infrastructure development. From a thematic perspective, the case here is tied to energy demand.
Artificial intelligence, data centers, and electrification trends are driving a surge in global power consumption. These systems require reliable, always-on energy sources, and nuclear is one of the few clean options capable of delivering that at scale.
Recent geopolitical developments only strengthen that argument. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting spike in oil prices have highlighted the fragility of traditional energy supply chains. That puts additional pressure on policymakers to invest in stable, domestic, and low-carbon energy sources like nuclear.
NLR is aptly is positioned to capture that shift. That said, there are trade-offs. The fund holds just 29 companies, so it is relatively concentrated. And the higher expense ratio means you need the theme to play out for the returns to justify the cost.
International ex-U.S. Stocks
Vanguard’s latest market outlook makes one thing clear. The firm expects international equities to outperform U.S. stocks over the coming decade. A big part of that comes down to valuations. Right now, the S&P 500 trades at a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of about 27.6x. In contrast, an international ex-U.S. fund like VXUS sits much lower at around 18.2x.
That gap matters because starting valuations are one of the strongest predictors of long-term returns. When you pay less upfront, you generally leave more room for future upside.
We’re already seeing some of that play out this year with the idea of a “sell America” trade gaining traction, and international diversification is one of the most straightforward ways to position for it. VXUS makes that super easy.
The ETF charges just a 0.05% expense ratio. On a $10,000 investment, that works out to about $5 per year. In return, you get exposure to more than 8,700 stocks across both developed and emerging markets, all packaged in a simple, market cap-weighted structure.