As the ETF industry has continued to gain traction in recent years, indexes have been transformed from hypothetical performance benchmarks into essentially investable assets. As such, investors have become increasingly familiar with many of the indexes that are linked to the most popular exchange-traded products and the methodologies used in the construction and ongoing maintenance. In most cases, the strategies used to determine index components and assign weightings is straightforward and easy to understand. Many of the most popular equity ETFs are linked to cap-weighted indexes, meaning that the companies with the largest market capitalization–in some cases float-adjusted–are given the largest weighting. Equal weighted indexes have become increasingly popular in recent years; these products also feature a relatively simple methodology for determining components and weightings. Other index weighting and construction methodologies, including those that use various fundamental factors such as revenue, earnings, and dividends, are relatively easy to grasp [see [...] Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com. Related Posts: Apple & Verizon Team Up On iPhone: How Will ETFs Respond? Tech ETFs In Focus As Apple (AAPL) Reports Earnings Tuesday’s ETF To Watch: QQQQ Technology ETFs In Focus As Yahoo And Apple Report Earnings Top Ten Performing Leveraged ETFs Of 2009