Equally Weighted
- 01:47
Understand the advantages and disadvantages of equally weighted equity indices
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Equally weighted equity indices. Now, as the name implies, in equally weighted indices, all companies, regardless of how big they are, how small they are, regardless of their price, they all have the same level of influence on the index. And the calculation for each weighting is rather simple. It's just one over N, N being the number of companies within the index. Now, none of the major widely followed indices are equally weighted, but rather derivatives of those indices are equally weighted. For example, the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index gives us a different look of performance for S&P 500 constituents. In terms of advantages for an equal weighted index, one, it's very simple. The weighting to calculate is very simple, and it's highly diversified. There is no concentration on large companies, on companies with large stock prices, or vice versa. Now, a couple of disadvantages. Underrepresentation. Well, what does that mean? Well, small companies with low prices and low market caps have the same impact as large companies, and with that, we may be underrepresenting larger companies that may give us a better indication of overall movement in the equity markets. And lastly, equally weighted indices tend to have large turnover. So unlike market cap weighted indices and price weighted indices that tend to be self-rebalancing, fund managers who track an equally weighted index must constantly rebalance their portfolios to maintain an equal weight across the board. And higher turnover means more expenses for the fund and more expenses to the ultimate investor.