Most investors assume that owning the S&P 500 means owning the market’s best performers in a meaningful way.
But in traditional cap-weighted index funds, many of the year’s strongest stock performers barely move the needle. Their weightings are so tiny, simply because their market caps are smaller than the mega-cap giants, that even exceptional returns contribute little to overall performance.
That’s the blind spot the Stratified LargeCap Index ETF (SSPY) aims to fix.
Instead of letting the biggest companies by market cap dictate returns, SSPY’s underlying index groups companies by related business risks and then redistributes weight more evenly across these groups and their constituents. This approach seeks to equalize business risk exposure rather than simply share price size, helping diversify away from concentration in a few mega-cap growth names while still staying within the familiar S&P 500 universe. Over time, that means more of the index’s return can come from companies that may be overlooked in cap-weighted strategies but are executing well in their own niches.
And in 2025, that has made a meaningful difference.
Below are five strong performers in the S&P 500 with less representation through October 2025 each of which carries far more weight in SSPY. Let’s break down what these companies do, and why SSPY gives them a chance to influence investor outcomes.
1. Tapestry (TPR)
Weight: SSPY: 0.31% vs. S&P 500: 0.04%
YTD 10/31/25 + 68.02%
Tapestry is the parent company of luxury lifestyle brands such as Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman. As consumers return to discretionary spending and luxury goods rebound, Tapestry’s performance has surged. In SPY, its microscopic 0.04% weight makes that success barely noticeable. SSPY gives it nearly 8x the influence, allowing strong category-specific performance to contribute in a meaningful way.
2. First Solar (FSLR)
Weight: SSPY: 0.24% vs. S&P 500: 0.05%
YTD 10/31/25 + 46.85%
First Solar is a leader in solar panel manufacturing, specializing in advanced thin-film photovoltaic technology. With renewable energy tailwinds and clean-energy incentives continuing to grow, FSLR has been a standout performer. But in the cap-weighted S&P 500, it's nearly invisible. SSPY’s stratified approach seeks to ensure renewable-energy exposure isn’t overshadowed by mega-cap tech.
3. Incyte (INCY)
Weight: SSPY: 0.35% vs. S&P 500: 0.03%
YTD 10/31/25 + 34.45%
Incyte is an innovative biopharmaceutical company known for treatments in oncology and inflammation, including its blockbuster therapy Jakafi. Biotechnology often produces some of the market’s biggest single-stock winners but small cap-weights mute that effect in cap-weighted S&P 500 funds. In SSPY, Incyte earns more than 10x the representation, giving biotech breakthroughs the room they deserve.
4. Valero Energy (VLO)
Weight: SSPY: 0.58% vs. S&P 500: 0.09%
YTD 10/31/25 + 40.6%
Valero is one of the world’s largest independent petroleum refiners. Refining margins and global demand dynamics have helped fuel a strong 2025. SPY assigns Valero just 0.09%, making its strength barely felt. SSPY’s structure gives VLO meaningful exposure, rather than burying it beneath mega-cap oil giants.
5. Hasbro (HAS)
Weight: SSPY: 0.26% vs. S&P 500: 0.02%
YTD 10/31/25 + 35.23%
Hasbro, owner of iconic brands like Transformers, Nerf, Magic: The Gathering, and Dungeons & Dragons, has rebounded through cost restructuring and strong entertainment tie-ins. S&P 500’s 0.02% weight is negligible; SSPY’s allocation is 13x larger.
The Bottom Line
Cap-weighted indexing rewards size not performance, innovation, or opportunity. SSPY flips that script by spreading weight across business-risk groups, giving rising companies room to matter.
In years like 2025, where there have been many strong performers in addition to mega-caps, SSPY’s methodology shines allowing emerging winners to drive real results instead of getting lost in the shadows of the index’s largest names.
To explore SSPY Holdings see www.stratifiedfunds.com for a full list of positions. *Holdings Subject To Change
Tapestry (TPR), First Solar (FSLR), Incyte (INCY), Valero Energy (VLO), Hasbro (HAS) make 0.33%, 0.24%, 0.33%, 0.57%, 0.27% respectively of SSPY as of 12/04/25.
Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus or summary prospectus with this and other information about the Fund, please call (866) 972-4492 or visit our website at https://stratifiedfunds.com/investor-materials. Read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.
The Funds are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC. Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC serves as the investment advisor. Foreside Fund Services, LLC. is not affiliated with Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC or any of its affiliates.
Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. The Funds are subject to certain other risks, including but not limited to, equity securities risk, large-capitalization risk, index tracking risk, passive strategy/index risk, and market trading risk. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. There can be no guarantee the Fund will meet its investment objectives.
SSPY Risks: The Fund is subject to certain other risks, including but not limited to, equity securities risk, large-capitalization risk, index tracking risk, passive strategy/index risk, and market trading risk. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.
SHUS Risks: The Fund is actively managed using a proprietary process, and there can be no guarantee that the Fund's investment strategies will be successful. The Fund may invest in Underlying Funds or Securities that are managed with a passive investment strategy, attempting to track the performance of an unmanaged index of securities. This differs from an actively-managed fund, which typically seeks to outperform a benchmark index. Maintaining investments in securities regardless of their individual performance or market conditions could negatively affect the Fund's return. The Fund is subject to certain other risks, including but not limited to, equity securities risk, large-, mid-, and small-capitalization risk, and market trading risk. Investing in securities of small and mid-sized companies may involve greater volatility than investing in larger and more established companies. Certain investments may be subject to restrictions on resale, trade over-the-counter or in limited volume, or lack an active trading market. Purchased put options may expire worthless and may have imperfect correlation to the value of the Fund’s sector based investments. Written call and put options may limit the Fund’s participation in equity market gains and may amplify losses in market declines. The Fund’s losses are potentially large in a written put or call transaction. If unhedged, written calls expose the Fund to potentially unlimited losses. The Fund invests in derivatives. Derivatives are financial instruments that derive their performance from an underlying reference asset, such as an index. The return on a derivative instrument may not correlate with the return of its underlying reference asset. Derivatives can be volatile and may be less liquid than other securities.
Shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Investors may purchase or sell individual shares on an exchange on which they are listed. The market price returns are based on the official closing price of an ETF share or, if the official closing price isn’t available, the midpoint between the national best bid and national best offer (“NBBO”) as of the time the ETF calculates current NAV per share, and do not represent the returns you would receive if you traded shares at other times. NAVs are calculated using prices as of 4:00 PM Eastern Time.
The Syntax Stratified LargeCap Index™ is the property of Syntax, LLC, which has contracted with S&P Opco, LLC (a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC) to calculate and maintain the Index. The Index is not sponsored by S&P Dow Jones Indices or its affiliates or its third-party licensors (collectively, “S&P Dow Jones Indices”). S&P Dow Jones Indices will not be liable for any errors or omissions in calculating the Index. “Calculated by S&P Dow Jones Indices” and the related stylized mark(s) are service marks of S&P Dow Jones Indices and have been licensed for use by Syntax, LLC, the parent company of Syntax Advisors, LLC. S&P® is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“SPFS”), and Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”).
The Syntax Stratified LargeCap Index™ is the property of Syntax, LLC, the Fund’s index provider. Syntax®, Stratified®, Stratified Indices®, Stratified Weight™, and FIS™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Locus LP. Performance of an index is not illustrative of any particular investment. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
Stratified Weight™ is the weighting methodology by which Syntax diversifies an index’s constituent companies that share “Related Business Risks.” Related Business Risk occurs when two or more companies provide similar products and/or services or share economic relationships such as having common suppliers, customers or competitors. The process of identifying, grouping, and diversifying holdings across Related Business Risk groups within an index is called stratification, and was designed by Syntax to seek to correct for business risk concentrations that regularly occur in capitalization-weighted indices and equal-weighted indices.
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Diversification does not ensure a profit or guarantee against a loss.
The S&P 500® Index is a market-capitalization-weighted index of the 500 leading publicly traded companies in the U.S.
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