Here’s how ASX equal-weight ETFs stack up to index funds

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are an increasingly popular investment vehicle for investors as we start 2021. In fact, (as we reported at the time), 2020 was one of the best years ever for ETFs, which experienced record inflows.

The most popular ETFs by far with ASX investors are index funds. Index funds are very simple in nature as they methodically track a major index such as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (SAX: XJO). Indexes like these are usually market capitalisation weighted, meaning that the largest companies in the index account for the largest holdings.

As an example, the largest constituent of the iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (ASX: IOZ) is currently Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) with an 8.13% weighting. Since CBA is…