Alger Concentrated Equity ETF

CNEQ

Market cap $377M

Alger Concentrated Equity ETF offers a high-conviction, 29-stock growth portfolio with a heavy technology and large-cap focus. CNEQ has outperformed the Russell 1000 Growth Index and major growth ETF peers by a wide margin since its April 2024 inception. CNEQ is well-suited for growth exposure in long-term or tactical allocations, but prudent capital allocation is warranted given its short history and risk profile.

The Alger Concentrated Equity ETF underperformed the Russell 1000 Growth Index during the third quarter of 2025. Alphabet, Natera Apple were among the top contributors to performance. Nebius Group, Sea Limited, and Meta Platforms were among the top detractors from performance. The Information Technology and Utilities sectors contributed to relative performance while Industrials and Health Care were among sectors that detracted from relative performance.

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.

What can a focused approach to equity portfolio construction offer for advisors and investors? Recently, Dr. Ankur Crawford, portfolio manager at Alger, joined Todd Rosenbluth, VettaFi's head of research, to discuss this very topic.

With AI adoption top of the mind for advisors and investors alike, some may be wondering which companies will be leading the pack when it comes to adopting AI into their workflows. Dr. Ankur Crawford, Executive Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Alger, recently discussed this topic in a wide-ranging conversation on the Alger Podcast.

The Alger Concentrated Equity ETF (CNEQ) offers exposure to 30 high-conviction, growth-oriented stocks, heavily weighted toward mega-cap technology and AI leaders. CNEQ has outperformed benchmark indices over the past year, driven by the AI growth theme and significant allocations to the Magnificent 7 stocks. Despite high concentration and sector risk, I recommend a Buy rating for CNEQ, best used as a satellite position to enhance technology exposure within a diversified portfolio.

It's certainly no secret at this point that many investors have leaned on the tech sector as a significant driver of growth in the past few years. There's certainly a good reason why investors have chosen to do so.

When uncertain market conditions first began to pick up earlier this year, some advisors and investors began to believe the era of U.S. large-cap growth was going to come to an end. Or at the very least, growth in the large-cap sector would see a significant slowdown.

If 2025's already extensive collection of news headlines can provide any lesson, it's that the market environment can change fast.  At this point, it's realistically too difficult for advisors and investors to try to anticipate how next week's headlines could affect the near-term market.

CNEQ offers a high-conviction, concentrated growth strategy with active management, delivering strong outperformance versus QQQ despite perceived higher risks. The ETF's sector and holding concentration is less risky than it appears, with diversified allocations and meaningful weights to all positions. Active management has shown agility and conviction, outperforming in bull markets and handling short-term volatility well, though untested in prolonged downturns.