Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
QUAL vs SPY: how they differ
QUAL and SPY hold 44% of their weight in the same names, and SPY returned more over the year.
iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, QUAL and SPY hold 44% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | QUAL | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA CORPORATION | 6.52% | 7.52% |
| APPLE INC. | 6.28% | 6.59% |
| MICROSOFT CORPORATION | 5.05% | 4.30% |
| ALPHABET INC. | 2.54% | 3.25% |
| ALPHABET INC. | 2.12% | 2.59% |
| META PLATFORMS, INC. | 3.50% | 1.92% |
| ELI LILLY AND COMPANY | 2.92% | 1.47% |
| BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. | 2.12% | 1.42% |
| JOHNSON & JOHNSON | 1.92% | 0.95% |
| APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. | 2.45% | 0.89% |
| VISA INC. | 3.09% | 0.88% |
| LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION | 3.23% | 0.84% |
| Only in QUAL | Only in SPY |
|---|---|
| LINDE PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY 0.88% | Amazon.com, Inc. 3.62% |
| Garmin Ltd. 0.88% | Broadcom, Inc. 2.77% |
| TRANE TECHNOLOGIES PLC 0.83% | Micron Technology, Inc. 2.02% |
| ACCENTURE PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY 0.83% | Tesla, Inc. 1.84% |
| Oklo Inc 0.71% | Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 1.47% |
| ARCH CAPITAL GROUP LTD. 0.12% | JPMorgan Chase & Co. 1.36% |
| CARLISLE COMPANIES INCORPORATED 0.10% | Intel Corp. 1.02% |
| UNITED THERAPEUTICS CORPORATION 0.09% | Exxon Mobil Corp. 0.88% |
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.
| QUAL iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF | SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core index fund | Core index fund |
| Issuer | iShares | State Street |
| What it is | MSCI USA Quality Factor | S&P 500, book from IVV |
| Total return, 1 year | +16.0% | +17.5% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +17.5% | +17.5% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | −1.5 pts | 0.0 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.09% |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 98.9% | 100.0% |
| Holdings | 121 | 504 |
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.
SPY in plain words
SPY is an index equity fund tracking the S&P 500. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +17.5% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 36.4%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or SPY?
- In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +16.0% and SPY returned +17.5%, so SPY returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- Which is cheaper, QUAL or SPY?
- QUAL charges 0.15% a year and SPY charges 0.09%, so SPY is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- How much do QUAL and SPY overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 99% of QUAL and 100% of SPY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 44% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.
Other comparisons
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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.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, QUAL against SPY, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/QUAL-SPY Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources