SSPY vs. RSP: How Stratified Weighting Outshines Equal Weight
For years, advisors looking to diversify beyond market-cap weighting have turned to the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP), the long-time contender known for giving every stock an equal punch. It’s simple, disciplined, and evenly matched on paper.
But in the ring, “equal” doesn’t always mean balanced. Equal weighting treats every stock the same, even when entire sectors move in lockstep. If one industry has 70 fighters and another has 10, your corner’s already crowded and may start leaning one way.
Enter The Stratified LargeCap Index ETF (SSPY), the new challenger with a refined fight plan. Using stratified weighting, it doesn’t just equalize positions it seeks to equalize business risk. It equally weights all the sectors aiming to spread exposure and opportunities evenly across them. SSPY steps into the market with its guard up and its stance steady, built for a more balanced fight across the full economy.
Cleaner Diversification, Lower Concentration
Where RSP flattens at the stock level, SSPY flattens across the entire market structure. That distinction may matter. SSPY doesn’t just trim exposure to mega-caps like Apple or Microsoft, it seeks to limit correlated business risk within sectors such as tech, energy, or financials.
The difference shows up in concentration: SSPY’s top 10 holdings make up only about 8% of assets (as of 10/14/25,) compared with roughly 38% (yahoo finance as of 10/14/25) in a cap-weighted S&P 500. That means less dependence on a handful of stocks or sectors to drive performance.
For further diversification SSPY weights each sector at 12.5% while RSP has sectors weighting from 16.55% to 3.9% vs the S&P 500 which has sector weights of 35.56% down to 1.58%. Sector diversification is the major driver of SSPY’s lower volatility. (YTD 10/14/25)
Holdings subject to change, for a list of current holdings, please visit www.stratifiedfunds.com/sspy and www.invesco.com/us/en/financial-products/etfs/invesco-sp-500-equal-weight-etf.html.
Performance and Volatility: The Numbers Tell the Story
Across key metrics, SSPY’s stratified construction consistently delivers a more efficient ride. According to data from ETF Database: (inception thru 10/14/25)
| METRIC | SSPY | RSP |
|---|---|---|
| Daily Volatility | ~16.09% | ~17% |
| Max Drawdown | –18.83% | –20.77% |
| YTD Return | ~11.24% | ~9.75% |
| 5-yr Annualized Return | ~14.26% | ~13.74% |
The performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the original cost. Returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized. Standardized performance data and most recent month-end performance data is available at www.stratifiedfunds.com/sspy and www.invesco.com/us/en/financial-products/etfs/invesco-sp-500-equal-weight-etf.html.
That’s a meaningful difference for advisors managing client risk. SSPY’s smaller drawdowns and lower volatility translate into stronger risk-adjusted returns and and potentially more confidence for investors.
RSP still shines in broad rallies driven by smaller stocks or cyclical strength. But when markets narrow or correlations spike, as in 2022’s sell-off, SSPY’s design shows its strength. It’s built to potentially capture upside more efficiently while cushioning downside pain.
The Advisor Edge
For portfolio builders, SSPY seeks to provide the “Goldilocks” balance: market-wide exposure, diversification, and conceivably less volatile performance without relying on timing or style rotation.
In essence, SSPY is “equal weight evolved” aiming to preserve the spirit of diversification while fixing equal weight’s potential blind spots.
Heart of The Matter
For investors who want to stay in large-cap U.S. equities but reduce exposure to correlated sector risks, SSPY offers a modern approach. It has shown better returns, lower volatility, and dramatically smaller drawdowns (as of 10/15/25) than RSP, all while maintaining broad, transparent exposure to the S&P 500 universe.
For investors searching for a diversified, risk-aware investment strategy, SSPY isn’t just another equal-weight ETF. It’s the strategically, stratified evolution of one.
Correlation: A correlation measures the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two financial assets or variables.
Max Drawdown: A maximum drawdown (MDD) represents the largest observed decline in the value of an investment from its peak to its subsequent lowest point, before a new peak is attained.
| FEATURE | SSPY | RSP |
|---|---|---|
| Fund Name & Provider | Syntax Stratified LargeCap ETF | Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF |
| Index tTacked | Syntax Stratified LargeCap Index — a stratified-weight version of the S&P 500® Index. |
S&P 500® Equal Weight Index (an equal-weight version of the S&P 500®) |
| Weighting Methodology |
Stratified-weight: holdings are drawn from S&P 500 |
Equal-weight: each of the S&P 500 constituents |
| Expense Ratio | 0.45% | 0.20% |
| Key Distinguishing Feature / Focus | Equal weights sectors first, then companies. Diversifying industry exposure. |
Equal weights each stock in the index. |
| Typical Investor Consideration | Good for investors seeking large-cap U.S. equity exposure with less influence from a few overweighted tech names. |
For investors seeking broad U.S. large-cap |
All funds are managed differently and do not react the same to economic or market events. The investment objectives, strategies, policies or restrictions of other funds may differ and more information can be found in their respective prospectuses. Therefore, we generally do not believe it is possible to make direct fund to fund comparisons in an effort to highlight the benefits of a fund versus another similarly managed fund.
Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus or summary prospectus with this and other information about the Fund, please call (866) 972-4492 or visit our website at https://stratifiedfunds.com/investor-materials. Read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.
The Funds are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC. Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC serves as the investment advisor. Foreside Fund Services, LLC. is not affiliated with Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC or any of its affiliates.
Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. The Funds are subject to certain other risks, including but not limited to, equity securities risk, large-capitalization risk, index tracking risk, passive strategy/index risk, and market trading risk. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. There can be no guarantee the Fund will meet its investment objectives.
SSPY Risks: The Fund is subject to certain other risks, including but not limited to, equity securities risk, large-capitalization risk, index tracking risk, passive strategy/index risk, and market trading risk. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.
SHUS Risks: The Fund is actively managed using a proprietary process, and there can be no guarantee that the Fund's investment strategies will be successful. The Fund may invest in Underlying Funds or Securities that are managed with a passive investment strategy, attempting to track the performance of an unmanaged index of securities. This differs from an actively-managed fund, which typically seeks to outperform a benchmark index. Maintaining investments in securities regardless of their individual performance or market conditions could negatively affect the Fund's return. The Fund is subject to certain other risks, including but not limited to, equity securities risk, large-, mid-, and small-capitalization risk, and market trading risk. Investing in securities of small and mid-sized companies may involve greater volatility than investing in larger and more established companies. Certain investments may be subject to restrictions on resale, trade over-the-counter or in limited volume, or lack an active trading market. Purchased put options may expire worthless and may have imperfect correlation to the value of the Fund’s sector based investments. Written call and put options may limit the Fund’s participation in equity market gains and may amplify losses in market declines. The Fund’s losses are potentially large in a written put or call transaction. If unhedged, written calls expose the Fund to potentially unlimited losses. The Fund invests in derivatives. Derivatives are financial instruments that derive their performance from an underlying reference asset, such as an index. The return on a derivative instrument may not correlate with the return of its underlying reference asset. Derivatives can be volatile and may be less liquid than other securities.
Shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Investors may purchase or sell individual shares on an exchange on which they are listed. The market price returns are based on the official closing price of an ETF share or, if the official closing price isn’t available, the midpoint between the national best bid and national best offer (“NBBO”) as of the time the ETF calculates current NAV per share, and do not represent the returns you would receive if you traded shares at other times. NAVs are calculated using prices as of 4:00 PM Eastern Time.
The Syntax Stratified LargeCap Index™ is the property of Syntax, LLC, which has contracted with S&P Opco, LLC (a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC) to calculate and maintain the Index. The Index is not sponsored by S&P Dow Jones Indices or its affiliates or its third-party licensors (collectively, “S&P Dow Jones Indices”). S&P Dow Jones Indices will not be liable for any errors or omissions in calculating the Index. “Calculated by S&P Dow Jones Indices” and the related stylized mark(s) are service marks of S&P Dow Jones Indices and have been licensed for use by Syntax, LLC, the parent company of Syntax Advisors, LLC. S&P® is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“SPFS”), and Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”).
The Syntax Stratified LargeCap Index™ is the property of Syntax, LLC, the Fund’s index provider. Syntax®, Stratified®, Stratified Indices®, Stratified Weight™, and FIS™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Locus LP. Performance of an index is not illustrative of any particular investment. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
Stratified Weight™ is the weighting methodology by which Syntax diversifies an index’s constituent companies that share “Related Business Risks.” Related Business Risk occurs when two or more companies provide similar products and/or services or share economic relationships such as having common suppliers, customers or competitors. The process of identifying, grouping, and diversifying holdings across Related Business Risk groups within an index is called stratification, and was designed by Syntax to seek to correct for business risk concentrations that regularly occur in capitalization-weighted indices and equal-weighted indices.
The Stratified Hedged Strategy combines the benefits of exposure to a Stratified Weight™ equity portfolio with a rules-based downside hedge program managed by Exchange Traded Concepts to reduce the risk of losses due to market downturns.
Diversification does not ensure a profit or guarantee against a loss.
The S&P 500® Index is a market-capitalization-weighted index of the 500 leading publicly traded companies in the U.S.
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