Markets· August 17, 2026 at 04:02 a.m.
US ETF Focused on Women-Led Companies Outperforms S&P 500
Key takeaways
- Hypatia Women CEO ETF outperformed the S&P 500 this year
- The fund focuses on big public companies led by women
- Patricia Lizarraga attributes the outperformance to the challenges faced by women in corporate America
A US exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on investing in big public companies led by women, Hypatia Women CEO ETF (WCEO), has outperformed the S&P 500 this year. As of market close on Friday, WCEO was up 21%, compared to under 14% for the S&P 500. The fund, which represents about $11 million, recently cleared $10 million in assets and has a three-year track record.
Patricia Lizarraga, managing partner of Hypatia Capital, attributes the outperformance to the additional challenges women face in corporate America, leading to their resilience and better leadership. However, the fund slightly lags its benchmark, the S&P SmallCap 600 Index, which has returned 23% year to date.
Investors view WCEO as a thematic fund, with top holdings including several oil and gas companies, International Seaways, Franklin Resources, Voya Financial, and other firms in asset management and insurance. The fund's software-company exposure hurt it in the second quarter but has since turned around.
Several other funds in the US with wider investment strategies supporting corporate gender diversity or women's empowerment also exist, such as State Street SPDR MSCI USA Gender Diversity ETF (SHE), Impact Shares Women's Empowerment ETF (WOMN), and Impax Global Women's Leadership Fund (PXWIX).
