Gratus Wealth Trims QQEW Stake by $22 Million — Is Equal-Weight Nasdaq Still Worth Holding?

What happened

According to a recent SEC filing, Gratus Wealth Advisors, LLC, significantly reduced its stake in the First Trust Nasdaq-100 Select Equal Weight ETF (NASDAQ:QQEW), selling 164,630 shares during Q1 2026. The estimated transaction value was $22.3 million, based on the average closing price for the quarter. The quarter-end position value in QQEW declined by $25.0 million, reflecting both the share sale and price movement during the period.

What else to know

• Following the sale, QQEW represents 1.9% of Gratus Wealth Advisors’ total AUM — outside the fund’s top five holdings.

• Top holdings after the filing:

  • NYSE: DGRO: $85.5 million (12.4% of AUM)

  • NYSE: MGK: $59.8 million (8.6% of AUM)

  • NYSE: XSMO: $39.6 million (5.7% of AUM)

  • NASDAQ: QQQ: $37.0 million (5.4% of AUM)

  • NYSE: IBDR: $36.3 million (5.2% of AUM)

• As of May 4, 2026, QQEW shares were trading at $139.15, up about 12% over the past year — underperforming the S&P 500 by roughly 16 percentage points, and trailing its Large Growth category benchmark by roughly 4 percentage points.

ETF overview

ETF snapshot

The First Trust Nasdaq-100 Select Equal Weight ETF (QQEW) tracks the Nasdaq-100 through an equal-weight methodology — meaning each of the index’s roughly 100 holdings receives a similar allocation, rather than concentrating heavily in the largest companies.

• Designed to reduce the mega-cap dominance common in market-cap-weighted Nasdaq ETFs like QQQ.

• Holds a diversified mix of large-cap U.S. growth equities, rebalanced on a rules-based schedule.

What this transaction means for investors

At first glance, selling more than 60% of an ETF position looks significant — but some context helps put this move in perspective. Gratus is a wealth management firm, and the 13F filing reflects a snapshot of holdings at quarter-end rather than a real-time window into the firm’s thinking. The filing alone doesn’t tell us why the position was trimmed.

That said, the sale comes against a backdrop of relative underperformance. QQEW has gained about 12% over the past year, but it has lagged the S&P 500 by roughly 16 percentage points over that stretch — a meaningful gap for any position in a managed portfolio. Equal-weight strategies like QQEW tend to shine when smaller and mid-cap names in the Nasdaq keep pace with — or outrun — the mega-cap leaders. In periods where a handful of giants (like the Magnificent 7 stocks) are doing the heavy lifting for the index, an equal-weight approach will naturally trail the cap-weighted alternative.