- Technology- and gaming-focused portfolios returned double the Nasdaq-100 over the past decade
- Banking stocks also edged ahead of the S&P 500, despite navigating a decade of dramatic interest-rate changes
- The result highlights the potential rewards of identifying the long-term forces behind a market’s growth and staying invested through changing cycles
6 October 2026: New analysis from trading and investing platform etoro shows that investors who focused on the technology and gaming themes driving long-term market growth achieved significantly higher returns than the Nasdaq-100 over the past decade.
etoro compared the performance of portfolios of large-cap technology stocks, gaming stocks, and banking stocks since their inception just over ten years ago, benchmarked against the Nasdaq-100 and S&P 500.*
The technology portfolio returned 1,342% while the gaming portfolio returned 1,252%. Both significantly outperformed the Nasdaq-100, which returned 636% over the same period. The banking portfolio returned 333%, which, though behind the Nasdaq-100, beat the S&P 500’s 326%.
Roberto Gornstein, Investment Portfolio Team Leader at etoro, said: “If we look back over the past 10 years, the themes that have driven market growth have changed shape significantly. Technology has moved from smartphones and cloud software to all things AI. Semiconductor stocks like Nvidia, previously best known for powering gaming graphics, are now at the centre of that technological revolution. Meanwhile, gaming itself went from console and PC publishing to an industry where most revenue now comes from mobile.”
The technology and gaming portfolios also outperformed the Nasdaq-100 over one-, three- and five-year periods, while the banking portfolio outperformed the S&P 500 over those same periods. This suggests that performance was not limited to the most recent year and reflects sustained exposure to the underlying forces shaping each industry.
Roberto Gornstein added: “These themes endured, even as the companies and market forces driving them changed, because they were supported by structural changes rather than short-term market excitement. Investors who maintained a long-term view and stayed invested were ultimately rewarded. That is one of the attractions of thematic investing: it allows investors to focus on the forces reshaping an industry over time, rather than trying to predict which company or market cycle will lead next.”
etoro’s Smart Portfolios turn 10
The figures come as etoro marks the 10-year anniversary of three of its longest-running Smart Portfolios: BigTech, InTheGame and TheBigBanks. The portfolios track companies exposed to each theme, allowing the analysis to capture the performance of an industry rather than a single stock.
Roberto Gornstein said: “When we created these portfolios, the aim was not to predict which single company would remain on top for 10 years. It was to give retail investors a simple and transparent way to invest in a long-term trend, even as the companies driving it changed. The last decade shows why that matters, market leadership can shift significantly, while the underlying forces shaping an industry can persist for much longer.”
The Smart Portfolio range that BigTech, InTheGame and TheBigBanks helped establish has since grown to more than 130 portfolios, offering retail investors easy access to a broad range of global investment themes. Transparency is central to the experience, with investors able to see the individual holdings within each portfolio, their weighting, price and performance, understand the strategy behind the portfolio and explore the underlying assets, all in a single interface. The portfolios have no management fees, performance fees, or lock-up periods.
| Portfolio or benchmark | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | 10 years (since portfolio inception on 8 July 2016) | Annualised 10-year return |
| BigTech | 63% | 279% | 286% | 1,342% | 30%* |
| InTheGame | 27% | 229% | 199% | 1,252% | 29%* |
| TheBigBanks | 26% | 162% | 149% | 333% | 15%* |
| S&P 500 Total Return | 16% | 86% | 91% | 326% | 15%* |
| Nasdaq-100 Total Return | 24% | 111% | 115% | 636% | 22%* |
Data taken at market close 30/09/2026. Index performance calculated in USD terms. Data from Bloomberg. Past performance is not an indication of future results
ENDS
Notes to editors
*The three Smart Portfolios were created on 8 July 2016.
Performance figures are cumulative total returns for the periods shown, all ending 30 September 2026, with annualised returns calculated over the same period and rounded to the nearest whole percentage point in line with etoro’s standard rounding policy.
The benchmarks are provided for context and are not direct like-for-like comparisons. The portfolios and indices differ in composition, concentration and risk profile. Past performance is not an indication of future results. This material is for information and educational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice or an investment recommendation.
All data accurate as of after market close on 30 September 2026.
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