Which returned more over the last year, JNK or QUAL?

In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, JNK returned +3.3% and QUAL returned +16.0%, so QUAL returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.

Which is cheaper, JNK or QUAL?

JNK charges 0.40% a year and QUAL charges 0.15%, so QUAL is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

JNK vs QUAL: how they differ

JNK and QUAL hold 0% of their weight in the same names, and QUAL returned more over the year.

State Street(R) SPDR(R) Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF and iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, JNK and QUAL hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.

Largest positions each one holds and the other does not
Only in JNK	Only in QUAL
1261229 BC LTD 0.64%	NVIDIA CORPORATION 6.52%
MERIDIAN ARC HOLDCO LLC 0.58%	APPLE INC. 6.28%
ECHOSTAR CORP 0.52%	MICROSOFT CORPORATION 5.05%
PR RNO PROPERTY OWNER 1 0.49%	META PLATFORMS, INC. 3.50%
CLOUD SOFTWARE GRP INC 0.42%	LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION 3.23%
QUIKRETE HOLDINGS INC 0.41%	THE TJX COMPANIES, INC. 3.19%
DISH NETWORK CORP 0.41%	VISA INC. 3.09%
SV RNO PROPERTY OWNER 1 0.40%	ELI LILLY AND COMPANY 2.92%

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Apr 30, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.

JNK and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	JNK State Street(R) SPDR(R) Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF	QUAL iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF
Where it sits	Core index fund	Core index fund
Issuer	State Street	iShares
What it is	SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond	MSCI USA Quality Factor
Total return, 1 year	+3.3%	+16.0%
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	+17.5%
Gap to the S&P 500	−14.2 pts	−1.5 pts
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.15%
Holdings	1198	121

JNK in plain words

JNK is a bond fund tracking the SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +3.3% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.40% a year.

QUAL in plain words

QUAL is an index equity fund tracking the MSCI USA Quality Factor. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +16.0% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings filed for Apr 30, 2026, 99% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 121 positions, with the top ten at 39.1%. It sat 3.1% below its high of Aug 13, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, JNK or QUAL?: In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, JNK returned +3.3% and QUAL returned +16.0%, so QUAL returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
Which is cheaper, JNK or QUAL?: JNK charges 0.40% a year and QUAL charges 0.15%, so QUAL is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

JNK against QUAL, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 12, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, JNK against QUAL, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/JNK-QUAL Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources