Tag: vun

rocket launch space discovery

SpaceX and index investing

RobHLeave a comment

This Friday (June 12, 2026) SpaceX (which, as it turns out, doesn’t just make rockets — it also encompasses Starlink and Twitter — er, X) will launch its mega-IPO. It’s expected to immediately become a top 10 company in terms of market capitalization, putting it in the same stratosphere as Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft.

There’s a lot of chatter over how (and even if) this will impact the boring old index investor. It might help to review what the major US Indices are. The major US indices1 that show up again and again in ETFs are

  • S&P 500 — this is the index used by ETFs like VFV, XSP, ZSP and HXS
  • S&P Total — this is used by XEQT/XGRO2 and AOA3
  • Nasdaq 100… includes ETFs like XQQ, ZQQ, HXQ4
  • The Solactive US Large Cap Index5: TPU aka TEQT
  • CRSP US Total Market Index — VUN, VUS and VEQT for example

The ETFs that track indices don’t have discretion over when or if to include a stock in their ETF. When the index changes, so does the ETF. It’s totally mechanical. The indices also have published rules on how and when to include stocks, but because SpaceX is anticipated to be so exceptionally large, there was pressure on the index providers to tweak their rules to make sure SpaceX was included. If you’re keeping score, only Nasdaq made changes to accommodate SpaceX. S&P did not.

After much anticipation, here’s the state of play as of June 9, 2026:

IndexSpaceX included when?How much?
S&P 500 (VFV, XSP, ZSP, HXS)>1 year from now6Float-adjusted, as usual
S&P Total (XEQT/XGRO, AOA)Once 10% float achieved…a quarter or two?Float-adjusted, as usual7
Nasdaq 100 (XQQ, ZQQ, HXQ, QQQ)Shortly after IPO…15 trading daysBased on full market cap, as usual
Solactive US Large Cap (TPU, TEQT)Next quarterly reviewFloat-adjusted
CRSP (VUN, VUS, VEQT)Shortly after IPO…5 trading daysFloat-adjusted

Many of the indices use the float-adjusted amounts; this means a lower weighting for SpaceX than its full market-cap, which means a lower weight in any index that uses float. In the coming months, I’ll take a peek at how much SpaceX I hold, and how it’s changing, just for my own education.

So, for me, it looks like I’ll be owning some SpaceX in the not-too-distant future since the vast majority of my US holdings are in XEQT/XGRO/AOA. And, the odds are, it will lose value post IPO. That kinda sucks.

Of course, as BMO correctly points out, nobody will be immune from this kind of market movement — why, you may ask? Given SpaceX is going to be included in the popular Nasdaq 100, funds that mirror this index are going to have to make room for the new arrival, selling off shares of things they already hold, like Nvidia, and Microsoft. This will create downward pressure on the prices of these tech stocks, and hence it will also create downward pressure on any ETF that also holds Nvidia, and Microsoft. The S&P 500 holds many of the Nasdaq 100 companies, so you can expect some price erosion of ETFs mirroring the S&P indices as the Nasdaq ETFs do their rebalancing act.

In the grand scheme of things, I don’t think I really care. I don’t love SpaceX, or any other stock for that matter. The S&P indices have historically rewarded the patient investor, and I see no reason to change my strategy based on one IPO, no matter how splashy. It won’t be the last — both Anthropic and OpenAI are probably close behind with their IPOs.

  1. The small cap Russell 2000 is also popular, but I don’t mention it in the main list since SpaceX is too big to be a small cap ↩︎
  2. This is a CAD ETF and holds things beyond “just” the S&P index. See more here. ↩︎
  3. This is a USD ETF, and holds things beyond just the S&P index. See more here. ↩︎
  4. The most famous Nasdaq 100 ETF trades in USD and is QQQ. This would explain the not-very-original names chosen by the Canadian management companies. ↩︎
  5. I think only TD uses this one, but since I’ve written about TEQT in the past, I figured I’d include it. ↩︎
  6. and likely longer, since there is a profitability screen imposed as well for inclusion in the S&P 500 ↩︎
  7. Over time, the size of the SpaceX float is expected to increase as insiders unload their shares; the timing of this is not known. I’d expect the SpaceX % to increase over the first year of inclusion on the S&P Total index. ↩︎

News: HISA Table updated, TD adds free-to-trade ETFs

RobHLeave a comment

High Interest Savings Page Updated

As reported last week, the USA cut their prime rates while Canada did not. The latest rates are now reflected in the HISA and short-term bond table (Canada & US). No changes for at least 6 weeks at this rate. Most cash I hold in my retirement savings is invested in an ultra-short-term bond fund, namely ICSH (one of my ETF all-stars) so I can squeeze out a few more basis points on my cash holdings.

TD Cuts Trading fees on 100 ETFs

TD seems to be upping its game. Not only are they throwing free money around, but an observant reader (thanks, big brother 🙂 ) alerted me to a recent change. You can read all about it here, but the skinny is that they cut trading fees on a list of 100 ETFs. Paying trading fees of any kind seems to be a dying business model, so it’s nice to see TDDI join the free club, at least a little bit. Some of these ETFs are even worth holding; I’ll save you the trouble and show you which ones:

NameSymbolWhat it holds
Vanguard S&P 500 IndexVFVLargest US Companies
SPDR S&P 500SPYLargest US Companies in USD
Vanguard 500 IndexVOOSame as SPY
iShares Russell 2000IWMSmall cap US Equity in USD
TD all-in-onesTEQT, TGRO, TBAL, TCON100% Equity, 90% Equity, 60% Equity, 30% Equity. Read more here and here.
TD Aggregate Bond IndexTDBCanadian gov’t and corp bonds.1
TD International EquityTPEDeveloped international market equity.2
TD US EquityTPU/TPU.USimilar to VFV/SPY3
TD Canadian EquityTTP300 Canadian stocks (aka “the Canadian market”)4
TD Cash Management TCSH/TUSD.UUltra short term debt in CAD/USD5
Vanguard all-in-onesVEQT, VGRO, VBAL, VCNS100% Equity, 80% Equity, 60% Equity, 40% Equity
Vanguard Canadian Agg BondVABCanadian gov’t and corp bonds6
Vanguard FTSE GlobalVXCAll equity ex-Canada (65% US Equity)
Vanguard FTSE DevelopedVIUAll developed equity ex-North America7
Vanguard US Total MarketVUN/VTI~3500 US Stocks in CAD/USD (aka “The US Market”)8
Vanguard FTSE Canada VCNTop 200 Canadian Stocks, so similar to TTP9
Newly free-to-trade ETFs at TDDI that are moneyengineer.ca approved

All the above funds would be worthy of consideration since they adhere to my rules about being passively managed, low cost, and aligned with my asset-allocation strategy. The simplest purchases here would be one of the TD or Vanguard all-in-ones (new to all-in-ones? read about them here) best aligned with your risk profile. There’s a bunch of other ones that aren’t of interest to me — bitcoin, leveraged, actively managed, segment-based…nah, I’m good.

  1. Used in TGRO, TBAL, TCON ↩︎
  2. No “emerging” market exposure. Used in TEQT, TGRO, TBAL, TCON ↩︎
  3. TPU is used in TEQT, TGRO, TBAL, TCON ↩︎
  4. Used in TEQT, TGRO, TBAL, TCON ↩︎
  5. Similar to my use of ZMMK/ICSH ↩︎
  6. Used in VGRO, VBAL, VCNS ↩︎
  7. Used in VEQT, VGRO, VBAL, VCNS ↩︎
  8. Used in VEQT, VGRO, VBAL, VCNS ↩︎
  9. Used in VEQT, VGRO, VBAL, VCNS ↩︎