The Direxion NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Shares (QQQE) made its debut on 03/21/2012, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box – Large Cap Growth category of the market.
What are smart beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies–popularly known as smart beta.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund sponsor and Index
The fund is managed by Direxion, and has been able to amass over $1.13 billion, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box – Large Cap Growth. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index.
The NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index consists of companies in the NASDAQ-100 Index but each of the securities is initially set at a weight of 1.00% of the Index. The NASDAQ-100 Index includes 100 of the largest non-financial securities listed on NASDAQ based on capitalization.
Cost and other expenses
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF’s expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.35% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.59%.
Sector exposure and top holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund’s holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Representing 40.3% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Consumer Discretionary and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) accounts for about 1.45% of total assets, followed by Intel Corp (INTC) and Marvell Technology Inc (MRVL).
The top 10 holdings account for about 11.97% of total assets under management.
Performance and risk
The ETF return is roughly 12.7% and it’s up approximately 8.14% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 11/14/2025), respectively. QQQE has traded between $76.98 and $105.23 during this last 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 17.78% for the trailing three-year period, which makes QQQE a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 102 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Direxion NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Shares is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box – Large Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Growth Index and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) tracks NASDAQ-100 Index. Vanguard Growth ETF has $198.33 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $396.65 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and QQQ changes 0.20%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box – Large Cap Growth.
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Source: https://www.fxstreet.com/news/is-direxion-nasdaq-100-equal-weighted-index-shares-qqqe-a-strong-etf-right-now-202511141333
