Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
QUAL vs VGT: how they differ
QUAL and VGT hold 27% of their weight in the same names, and VGT returned more over the year.
iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF and Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, QUAL and VGT hold 27% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | QUAL | VGT |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA CORPORATION | 6.52% | 16.85% |
| APPLE INC. | 6.28% | 14.59% |
| MICROSOFT CORPORATION | 5.05% | 9.47% |
| LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION | 3.23% | 1.56% |
| APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. | 2.45% | 1.40% |
| QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 1.42% | 1.09% |
| KLA CORPORATION | 2.79% | 1.00% |
| ARISTA NETWORKS, INC. | 1.49% | 0.69% |
| APPLOVIN CORPORATION | 0.67% | 0.58% |
| ACCENTURE PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY | 0.83% | 0.47% |
| ADOBE INC. | 1.19% | 0.45% |
| CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC. | 0.57% | 0.44% |
| Only in QUAL | Only in VGT |
|---|---|
| META PLATFORMS, INC. 3.50% | Broadcom Inc 4.21% |
| THE TJX COMPANIES, INC. 3.19% | Micron Technology Inc 4.21% |
| VISA INC. 3.09% | Advanced Micro Devices Inc 3.21% |
| ELI LILLY AND COMPANY 2.92% | Intel Corp 2.03% |
| ALPHABET INC. 2.54% | Cisco Systems Inc 1.85% |
| CATERPILLAR INC. 2.52% | Oracle Corp 1.46% |
| MASTERCARD INCORPORATED 2.30% | Palantir Technologies Inc 1.35% |
| ALPHABET INC. 2.12% | Texas Instruments Inc 1.11% |
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 May 31, 2026.
| QUAL iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF | VGT Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core index fund | Core index fund |
| Issuer | iShares | Vanguard |
| What it is | MSCI USA Quality Factor | Information technology |
| Total return, 1 year | +16.0% | +35.4% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +17.5% | +17.5% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | −1.5 pts | +17.9 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.09% |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 98.9% | 86.9% |
| Holdings | 121 | 317 |
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.
VGT in plain words
VGT is an index equity fund tracking the Information technology. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +35.4% 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 May 31, 2026, 87% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 317 positions, with the top ten at 59.5%. It sat 3.6% below its high of Jun 2, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or VGT?
- In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +16.0% and VGT returned +35.4%, so VGT returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- Which is cheaper, QUAL or VGT?
- QUAL charges 0.15% a year and VGT charges 0.09%, so VGT is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- How much do QUAL and VGT overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 99% of QUAL and 87% of VGT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 27% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.
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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 VGT, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/QUAL-VGT Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources