Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
QUAL vs XLF: how they differ
QUAL and XLF hold 11% of their weight in the same names, and QUAL returned more over the year.
iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF and State Street(R) Financial Select Sector SPDR(R) ETF.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, QUAL and XLF hold 11% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | QUAL | XLF |
|---|---|---|
| VISA INC. | 3.09% | 7.51% |
| MASTERCARD INCORPORATED | 2.30% | 5.47% |
| BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. | 2.12% | 12.10% |
| BLACKROCK, INC. | 0.57% | 1.83% |
| S&P GLOBAL INC. | 0.45% | 1.63% |
| THE PROGRESSIVE CORPORATION | 0.40% | 1.68% |
| CME GROUP INC. | 0.40% | 1.06% |
| MOODY'S CORPORATION | 0.32% | 0.90% |
| MARSH & MCLENNAN COMPANIES, INC. | 0.26% | 1.06% |
| The Travelers Companies, Inc. | 0.25% | 0.93% |
| AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL, INC. | 0.19% | 0.54% |
| AFLAC INCORPORATED | 0.19% | 0.71% |
| Only in QUAL | Only in XLF |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA CORPORATION 6.52% | JPMorgan Chase & Co 11.57% |
| APPLE INC. 6.28% | Bank of America Corp 4.91% |
| MICROSOFT CORPORATION 5.05% | Goldman Sachs Group Inc/The 3.94% |
| META PLATFORMS, INC. 3.50% | Wells Fargo & Co 3.34% |
| LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION 3.23% | Morgan Stanley 3.31% |
| THE TJX COMPANIES, INC. 3.19% | Citigroup Inc 3.15% |
| ELI LILLY AND COMPANY 2.92% | American Express Co 2.38% |
| KLA CORPORATION 2.79% | Charles Schwab Corp/The 1.99% |
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 | XLF State Street(R) Financial Select Sector SPDR(R) ETF | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core index fund | Core index fund |
| Issuer | iShares | State Street |
| What it is | MSCI USA Quality Factor | Financials |
| Total return, 1 year | +16.0% | +7.6% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +17.5% | +17.5% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | −1.5 pts | −9.9 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.08% |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 98.9% | 100.0% |
| Holdings | 121 | 76 |
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.
XLF in plain words
XLF is an index equity fund tracking the Financials. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +7.6% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% 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 76 positions, with the top ten at 57.7%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or XLF?
- In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +16.0% and XLF returned +7.6%, so QUAL returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- Which is cheaper, QUAL or XLF?
- QUAL charges 0.15% a year and XLF charges 0.08%, so XLF is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- How much do QUAL and XLF overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 99% of QUAL and 100% of XLF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 11% 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 XLF, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/QUAL-XLF Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources