07/21/2026
There’s a lot of excitement around "AI investing" and that excitement is quietly turning into concentrated bets that folks don’t realize they're making. At the risk of getting in the weeds, here’s what I’m talking about:
Semiconductor ETFs have become one of the most popular ways to get "AI exposure." But upon closer scrutiny, they're far less diversified than the name suggests. The largest one holds over 15% of its assets in a single company. Several others lean heavily on the same handful of names. And a significant part of the entire chip industry runs through one company based in Taiwan, which has its own geopolitical risk.
There’s a difference between being on the right side of a trend and making money on it.If you're retired or getting close, ask yourself the following:
- Do you know how much of your portfolio touches AI or semiconductors, even indirectly through a "diversified" fund?
- Would a pullback in a handful of mega-cap names meaningfully hurt you?