index
S&P 500
US large-cap equities
Index Battle · Evidence-first comparison
S&P 500 vs Nasdaq-100: Which Exposure Fits Your Portfolio?
Compare their structural exposure, diversification and intended portfolio role—without treating recent performance as a decision rule.
Last reviewed: 26 August 2026IndependentNo paid placementsInformational only
vs
index
Nasdaq-100
Large non-financial Nasdaq-listed companies
Overall verdict
S&P 500 provides us large-cap equities, while Nasdaq-100 provides large non-financial nasdaq-listed companies. The decision is primarily about market breadth and construction, not which has recently performed better.
Quick Decision
Choose S&P 500 if…
you deliberately want us large-cap equities and it matches the intended portfolio role.
Choose Nasdaq-100 if…
you deliberately want large non-financial nasdaq-listed companies and accept its distinct concentration and risks.
Either can make sense if…
the exposure, implementation and risks fit a clearly defined portfolio objective.
At a glance
Entity characteristics—not reference-product fees.
| Characteristic | S&P 500 | Nasdaq-100 |
|---|---|---|
| Exposure | US large-cap equities | Large non-financial Nasdaq-listed companies |
| Geography | United States | United States |
| Market coverage | Large cap | Large cap |
| Emerging markets | Not included | Not included |
| Small caps | Not included | Not included |
| Weighting | Market-cap weighted | Modified market-cap weighted |
| Index provider | S&P Dow Jones Indices | Nasdaq |
Key differences
- 1.Exposure: US large-cap equities compared with Large non-financial Nasdaq-listed companies.
- 2.Weighting: Market-cap weighted compared with Modified market-cap weighted.
- 3.Index provider: S&P Dow Jones Indices compared with Nasdaq.
Decision scorecard
ExposureDepends
WeightingDepends
Index providerDepends
“Depends” means the category reflects an investor objective, not universal superiority.
Coverage, countries and sectors
Verified holdings, concentration, country and sector datasets are not currently connected. When available, each dataset will be labelled as official index data or Reference ETF holdings; listing domicile will not be presented as economic revenue exposure.
What this means in a portfolio
Holding both does not automatically create two independent portfolios. Overlapping companies and regions can make the combination an intentional tilt toward the exposure emphasised by Nasdaq-100.
Common mistake
Assuming that adding Nasdaq-100 to S&P 500 automatically improves diversification, without checking overlap and concentration.
Historical comparison basis
Historical performance is represented using Grovcap-selected reference exchange-traded products. It is not the official index or spot return series. Fund or ETP returns can differ because of fees, taxes, tracking, cash positions, product structure and other implementation effects. Differences can reflect TER, tracking difference, withholding taxes, sampling, securities lending, cash drag, operating expenses, currency conversion and inception date.
No period is currently comparable across both reference products on a like-for-like currency, basis and reporting-date footing, so no return figures are shown. Grovcap never renders a missing return as 0.00%.
Grovcap does not currently hold a daily net-asset-value time series for these products. Indexed performance charts, annualised volatility, maximum drawdown and return-per-risk therefore remain unavailable rather than being estimated from period returns.
Reference instruments used
One canonical European exchange-traded product per exposure, chosen by published rules: exact benchmark family, active and published, plain long-only, then accumulating, unhedged, longest usable history and largest established product.
S&P 500 reference product
Xtrackers S&P 500 Swap UCITS ETF 1C
- ISIN
- LU0490618542
- Product type
- UCITS ETF
- Provider
- Xtrackers
- Tracked benchmark
- S&P 500 INDEX
- Distribution
- Accumulating
- Currency hedging
- Unhedged
- Replication
- Synthetic
- Domicile
- LU
- Base currency
- USD
- Ongoing charge (TER)
- 0.15%
- Fund size
- €8.17bn
- Inception
- 26 Mar 2010
Selected deterministically from 49 eligible products in the Grovcap database — never by commercial arrangement.
Nasdaq-100 reference product
iShares NASDAQ 100 UCITS ETF
- ISIN
- IE00B53SZB19
- Product type
- UCITS ETF
- Provider
- Ishares
- Tracked benchmark
- NASDAQ 100 Index
- Distribution
- Accumulating
- Currency hedging
- Unhedged
- Replication
- Replicated
- Domicile
- Ireland
- Base currency
- USD
- Ongoing charge (TER)
- 0.30%
- Fund size
- $26.89bn
- Inception
- 26 Jan 2010
Selected deterministically from 15 eligible products in the Grovcap database — never by commercial arrangement.
Continue researching
Related Grovcap guides, rankings and tools to take the next step.
Best ETFsBest S&P 500 UCITS ETFsEvery S&P 500 UCITS share class compared on cost, size and structure.Best ETFsBest Nasdaq-100 UCITS ETFsA distinct, concentrated US equity exposure compared on cost and structure.BenchmarkS&P 500 benchmark guideUnderstand the coverage and limits behind S&P 500 ETFs.ETF comparisonCSPX vs VUAATwo accumulating Irish-domiciled S&P 500 trackers compared side by side.PortfolioIs One All-World ETF Enough?Separate genuine diversification from overlap and intentional tilts.
Disclaimer
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