The Nasdaq-100 and S&P 500 are two of the most popular US equity indices. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) designed to follow these two benchmarks are often used to anchor core portfolios. In EMEA, passive ETFs tracking the Nasdaq-100 have about $35 billion in assets compared with $228 billion for those tracking the S&P 500. But could that gap narrow in coming years?
It’s difficult to predict but a case could be made that the Nasdaq-100 could be the index of the future, as its constituents have a demonstrated ability to be nimble and adaptive to shifting trends in the market. Whether it’s Amazon starting as an online book retailer and expanding into web services through AWS, or Apple starting as a computer maker and becoming one of the largest cell phone manufacturers in the world, many Nasdaq-100 companies have shown the ability to diversify as consumer needs have evolved.
