The Nasdaq 100 Index is considered by many as the default benchmark for growth.

The methodology is straightforward—the 100 largest non-financial companies by market cap listed on the Nasdaq Exchange. Securities are weighted by modified market capitalization.

One of the drawbacks to this simplicity for a growth benchmark is that mature, slow-growth companies can populate the Index because of the absence of fundamental selection criteria.

In our view, WisdomTree has created a better way to capture growth—the WisdomTree U.S. Quality Growth Index. Since its launch near the end of 2022, it has outperformed the Nasdaq 100 while being more directly targeted to high-growth, high-profitability companies.

WisdomTree U.S. Quality Growth Index vs. Benchmarks since Inception

The Wisdom U.S. Quality Growth Fund (QGRW), which tracks the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. Quality Growth Index, has outperformed its peers in the Morningstar Large Growth Category across various periods by an even wider margin than its performance relative to traditional growth benchmarks.

WisdomTree U.S. Quality Growth Fund Performance

For QGRW’s full standardized and most recent month-end performance, please click here.

The WisdomTree U.S. Quality Growth Index underwent its semiannual rebalance this June. During each rebalance, the Index selects the 100 U.S. companies with the highest scores in quality and profitability metrics.

This rebalance saw the addition of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company, whose common stock is up 46% this year, at 3.45%.

Eli Lilly has an approximately 2.6% weight in the Russell 1000 Growth Index, but the security is excluded from the Nasdaq 100 Index as its primary listing is on the NYSE, not the Nasdaq.

This is despite the premium sales growth of the company from its wildly successful Mounjaro weight loss drug.

Top 10 Holdings, WisdomTree U.S. Quality Growth Index

The WisdomTree U.S. Quality Growth Index has outperformed the Russell 1000 Growth Index since its inception in November 2022 by more than 8.5%.

The bulk of this outperformance can be attributed to high-growth sectors like Information Technology and Communication Services.

Within the Information Technology sector, the Index saw the most outperformance through stock selection—a direct consequence of its screening process and methodology.

In addition to Information Technology and Communication Services, the Index benefited from its allocations to all other sectors except for Utilities and Financials.

Sector Attribution

Like the Nasdaq 100, the WisdomTree Index selects 100 securities. The Indexes hold 37 securities in common with a common holdings score (or overlap) of 63%.

If we look at the chart below, we can see the difference in trailing earnings growth of constituents held in QGRW that are not held in the Nasdaq 100 and vice versa.

The main takeaway: Because the Nasdaq 100 has no fundamental selection criteria, it sacrifices on its growth criteria by including some slower-growth securities that happen to pass its market-cap and listing requirements.

For investors considering a more pure-play exposure to growth while also including a profitability bet, consider the Wisdom U.S. Quality Growth Fund (QGRW).

WisdomTree U.S. Quality Growth Fund (QGRW) vs. Nasdaq 100 Overlap

Median Trailing Five-Year Sales Growth

Conclusion: How Long Will the Seven Stay Magnificent?

The “Magnificent Seven” group of stocks, led by its poster child NVIDIA (NVDA)—which recently surpassed the combined market cap of the entire German stock market—is still mostly going strong after a breakout performance in 2023. Putting aside a floundering Tesla (TSLA) for now (down 25% year-to-date), the million-dollar question is: how long will this last?

The WisdomTree U.S. Quality Growth Index has a rules-based methodology that reconstitutes on a semiannual basis each June and December. The design of the Index is to not bet on individual names or a basket of several names over the long run but to represent a relatively high-conviction allocation to 100 companies with high profitability and growth characteristics.

Fundamentals