Tech’s Little Dip & A Rather Sensible ETF

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One does rather tire of hearing about the tech sector’s little wobble. It’s been the darling of the market for a decade, naturally, and now finds itself, shall we say, experiencing a temporary lapse in enthusiasm. Through mid-March, the S&P 500’s tech contingent was down a regrettable 6%, and even the so-called “Magnificent Seven” aren’t exactly setting the world alight. Honestly, it’s all dreadfully predictable.

However, a bit of short-term unpleasantness shouldn’t distract one from the long-term potential. If one insists on dabbling in technology—and frankly, who doesn’t—a tech-focused Exchange Traded Fund is a far more sensible approach than chasing individual stocks. It avoids the vulgarity of putting all one’s eggs in a single, possibly fragile, basket.

There are, naturally, a plethora of these ETFs. But a particularly tidy option at the moment is the Invesco Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQM 1.41%). A modest investment of $1,000 now could, with a bit of luck and the continued ingenuity of Silicon Valley, prove rather rewarding.

A Diversified Approach, Darling

QQQM isn’t a purist’s play on technology; it mirrors the Nasdaq-100, which, while heavily weighted towards tech, isn’t entirely devoid of other sectors. A sensible precaution, really. Nearly 60% of the fund is allocated to tech, which is perfectly adequate, but the inclusion of other companies provides a degree of insulation against any particularly nasty tech-specific downturn. One must always anticipate the possibility of unpleasantness, you know.

Nine of QQQM’s top ten holdings are, predictably, tech companies, with Walmart being the rather unexpected exception:

Company Percentage of the ETF
Nvidia 8.82%
Apple 7.49%
Microsoft 5.92%
Amazon 4.44%
Tesla 3.91%
Meta Platforms 3.71%
Alphabet (Class A) 3.50%
Walmart 3.35%
Alphabet (Class C) 3.25%
Broadcom 3.14%

This diversification is, frankly, rather clever. QQQM has, thus far this year, outperformed both the S&P 500’s tech sector and those terribly narrow pure-play tech ETFs, like the Vanguard Information Technology ETF. One doesn’t want to be caught napping, you see.

A History of Reasonable Returns

QQQM is a relatively recent arrival, launched in October 2020 (it’s the rather more economical successor to the popular Invesco QQQ ETF). However, looking back over the past 30 years, the Nasdaq-100 has averaged a perfectly respectable 13% annual return. QQQM itself has managed a slightly superior 13.8% since its inception. If this continues—and one shouldn’t be unduly optimistic, naturally—a $1,000 investment could blossom into over $11,500 in 20 years, over $21,200 in 25 years, and a positively extravagant $39,100 in 30 years.

Past performance, of course, is no guarantee of future success. One must always maintain a healthy degree of skepticism. However, QQQM is underpinned by some of the world’s most innovative and, dare one say, enduring tech companies. They seem, on the whole, rather determined to remain relevant.

Ideally, one would continue to add to one’s holdings of QQQM over time, fully capitalizing on its growth potential as various tech industries continue to evolve and expand. It’s a perfectly sensible strategy, don’t you think?

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2026-03-19 14:53