The Alger Concentrated Equity ETF (CNEQ) returned more than 32% in 2025, beating the S&P 500 by over 14 percentage points as the fund’s focused portfolio capitalized on a shifting market environment, according to ETF Database.
The fund’s outperformance comes as investors debate whether market leadership will broaden beyond mega-cap technology names. While passive index funds must hold all constituents regardless of fundamentals, CNEQ’s structure enables its portfolio manager to concentrate capital in companies they believe are showing accelerating growth.
CNEQ invests in a focused portfolio of 30 or fewer holdings consisting of companies predominantly large-cap companies with flexibility to invest across market capitalizations, identified through fundamental research as demonstrating promising growth potential. The approach reflects Alger’s philosophy of investing in companies undergoing what the firm calls “Positive Dynamic Change” through high unit volume growth or companies undergoing positive life cycle changes.
The fund’s concentrated approach means each position carries more weight compared to broad market indexes. Alger believes that approach can amplify returns when the portfolio manager can successfully identify companies with strong earnings momentum.
Stock Picks Center on AI Opportunity
CNEQ’s top holdings include several companies positioned around artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to ETF Database. The fund holds NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), AppLovin Corp. (APP) and Meta Platforms Inc. (META) among its largest positions.
Beyond widely held technology giants, the fund owns Nebius Group (NBIS), a specialized GPU-cloud provider not held in the S&P 500. Other holdings include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM), Broadcom Inc. (AVGO), and Apple Inc. (AAPL).
The fund also includes power infrastructure names Talen Energy Corp. (TLN) and Constellation Energy Corp. (CEG) alongside other semiconductor manufactures and data center equipment providers.
Alger’s research suggests the shift to “agentic AI,” autonomous systems capable of perceiving, reasoning, planning and acting independently, will drive demand for compute capacity that could exceed current levels by 10 to 100 times, according to insights published by the firm.
The concentrated equity strategy launched in April 2024. It carries a net expense ratio of 0.55%, according to the fund’s factsheet. Dr. Ankur Crawford serves as portfolio manager for the strategy.
For more news, information, and analysis, visit the Artificial Intelligence Content Hub.
Originally published on ETF Trends
Click here for standard performance and more information on the Alger Concentrated Equity ETF.
Disclosure Informatiion
Performance data quoted represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. DUE TO MARKET VOLATILITY, CURRENT PERFORMANCE MAY BE DIFFERENT THAN THE FIGURES SHOWN. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when sold in the secondary market, may be worth more or less than original cost. Returns less than one year are not annualized. Performance does not reflect the deduction of commissions, which a broker may charge to execute a transaction in Fund shares, and an investor may incur the cost of the spread between the price at which a dealer will buy shares and the price at which a dealer will sell shares. Market performance is determined using the official closing price on the New York Stock Exchange. Market performance does not represent the returns you would receive if you traded shares at other times. To obtain performance data current to the most recent month end, please visit www.alger.com. Index performance does not represent the fund’s performance. Investors may not invest directly in an index.
Performance shown is net of fees and expenses.
The following positions represented the noted percentages of CNEQ assets as of January 20, 2026: NVIDIA Corporation: 14.09%; Alphabet Inc: 5.92%; Microsoft Corporation: 9.63%; Amazon.com, Inc.: 7.62%; Meta Platforms Inc: 3.69%; AppLovin Corp.: 3.78%; Nebius Group: 4.67%; Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.: 5.74%; Broadcom Inc.: 5.40%; Apple Inc.: 4.60%; Talen Energy Corp.: 1.61%; Constellation Energy Corp.: 1.76%
The views expressed are the views of Fred Alger Management, LLC (“FAM”) and its affiliates as of January 2026. These views are subject to change at any time and may not represent the views of all portfolio management teams. These views should not be interpreted as a guarantee of the future performance of the markets, any security or any funds managed by FAM. These views are not meant to provide investment advice and should not be considered a recommendation to purchase or sell securities. Holdings and sector allocations are subject to change.
Risk Disclosures: Investing in the stock market involves risks, including the potential loss of principal. Growth stocks may be more volatile than other stocks as their prices tend to be higher in relation to their companies’ earnings and may be more sensitive to market, political, and economic developments. Companies involved in, or exposed to, AI-related businesses may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel as they face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence, and many depend significantly on retaining and growing their consumer base. These companies may be substantially exposed to the market and business risks of other industries or sectors, and may be adversely affected by negative developments impacting those companies, industries or sectors, as well as by loss or impairment of intellectual property rights or misappropriation of their technology. Companies that utilize AI could face reputational harm, competitive harm, and legal liability, and/or an adverse effect on business operations as content, analyses, or recommendations that AI applications produce may be deficient, inaccurate, biased, misleading or incomplete, may lead to errors, and may be used in negligent or criminal ways. AI technology could face increasing regulatory scrutiny in the future, which may limit the development of this technology and impede the future growth. AI companies, especially smaller companies, tend to be more volatile than companies that do not rely heavily on technology. A significant portion of assets will be concentrated in securities in related industries, and may be similarly affected by adverse developments and price movements in such industries. A significant portion of assets may be invested in securities of companies in related sectors, and may be similarly affected by economic, political, or market events and conditions and may be more vulnerable to unfavorable sector developments. The Fund is classified as a “non-diversified fund” under federal securities laws because it can invest in fewer individual companies than a diversified fund. Active trading may increase transaction costs, brokerage commissions, and taxes, which can lower the return on investment. At times, cash may be a larger position in the portfolio and may underperform relative to equity securities.
ETF shares are based on market price rather than net asset value (“NAV”), as a result, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The Fund may also incur brokerage commissions, as well as the cost of the bid/ask spread, when purchasing or selling ETF shares. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation and/or redemption process of the Fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the Fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The Manager cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV. The Fund may affect its creations and redemptions for cash, rather than for in-kind securities. Therefore, it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently recognize gains on such sales that the Fund might not have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. As such, investments in Fund shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that distributes portfolio securities entirely in-kind. Brokerage fees and taxes will be higher than if the Fund sold and redeemed shares in-kind. Certain shareholders, including other funds advised by the Manager or an affiliate of the Manager, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the shares of the Fund. Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund.
The S&P indexes are a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and/or its affiliates and has been licensed for use by Fred Alger Management, LLC and its affiliates. Copyright 2026 S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a subsidiary of S&P Global Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Redistribution or reproduction in whole or in part are prohibited without written permission of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. S&P® is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. Neither S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC, their affiliates nor their third party licensors make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the ability of any index to accurately represent the asset class or market sector that it purports to represent and neither S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC, their affiliates nor their third party licensors shall have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of any index or the data included therein.
S&P 500®: An index of large company stocks considered to be representative of the U.S. stock market. Investors cannot invest directly in any index. The performance data quoted represents past performance, which is not an indication or a guarantee of future results.
Alger pays compensation to VettaFi to sell various strategies to prospective investors.
Before investing, carefully consider a Fund’s investment objective, risks, charges, and expenses. For a prospectus and summary prospectus containing this and other information or for a Fund’s most recent month-end performance data, visit www.alger.com, call (800) 992-3863 (for a mutual fund) or (800) 223-3810 (for an ETF), or consult your financial advisor. Read the prospectus and summary prospectus carefully before investing. Distributor: Fred Alger & Company, LLC. All underlying series of The Alger ETF Trust listed on NYSE Arca, Inc. NOT FDIC INSURED. NOT BANK GUARANTEED. MAY LOSE VALUE.
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