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The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF, known by its ticker RSP, has attracted more than $12 billion this year and pushed past $100 billion in assets for the first time. AFP

The biggest technology companies are no longer doing all the heavy lifting in the U.S. stock market as a broader rally is helping equal-weight S&P 500 strategies outperform the traditional index in 2026.

The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF, known by its ticker RSP, has attracted more than $12 billion this year and pushed past $100 billion in assets for the first time. The fund had outperformed the market-cap-weighted S&P 500 by roughly three percentage points for the year through Aug. 21, CNBC noted.

Unlike the standard S&P 500, where the biggest companies receive the largest weightings, RSP gives each company roughly the same exposure. Invesco says the fund tracks the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index, with each constituent carrying a weight of about 0.2% when the index is rebalanced. That reduces the influence of companies such as Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple on overall returns.

The strategy has benefited from a change in market leadership this year. The Magnificent Seven, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla, were collectively flat during the first half of 2026, compared with a 9.3% gain for the S&P 500, the outlet noted.

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Other parts of the market have also gained ground. Reuters reported in late July that industrials, materials and financial stocks were among the groups outperforming the broader S&P 500, while an equal-weight version of the index was also beating its market-cap-weighted counterpart. Investors were watching whether that broader participation could continue as the largest technology companies reported earnings.

Heavy spending on artificial intelligence has also put more scrutiny on the valuations and investment plans of the biggest technology companies. Invesco said earlier this year that RSP had substantially less exposure to technology and communication services than the traditional S&P 500, while giving greater weight to sectors including industrials, materials, health care and financials.

Cinthia Murphy, director of research at VettaFi, told CNBC that investors were paying more attention to equal weighting after years in which the Magnificent Seven produced outsized returns. Earnings growth among the other 493 companies in the index has helped support that shift, she said.

The conventional S&P 500 funds remain far larger. Vanguard's VOO, BlackRock's IVV and State Street's SPY have close to $3 trillion in combined assets, according to CNBC, with VOO alone managing roughly $1 trillion.

The broader U.S. market has continued climbing despite the change in leadership. Reuters reported Friday that UBS Global Wealth Management raised its year-end S&P 500 target to 8,100 from 7,700, citing stronger earnings expectations and economic growth. UBS also pointed to improving performance in cyclical sectors alongside continued investment in artificial intelligence.

RSP dates back to 2003, making equal weighting far from a new strategy. What has changed in 2026 is where the market's gains are coming from: more of the S&P 500's companies are participating, while the seven stocks that dominated returns in recent years are no longer leading the index on their own.