Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
QUAL vs XLG: how they differ
QUAL and XLG hold 44% of their weight in the same names, and QUAL returned more over the year.
iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF and Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, QUAL and XLG hold 44% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | QUAL | XLG |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA CORPORATION | 6.52% | 13.10% |
| APPLE INC. | 6.28% | 10.76% |
| MICROSOFT CORPORATION | 5.05% | 8.18% |
| META PLATFORMS, INC. | 3.50% | 3.61% |
| ALPHABET INC. | 2.54% | 6.05% |
| ALPHABET INC. | 2.12% | 4.82% |
| BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. | 2.12% | 2.35% |
| ELI LILLY AND COMPANY | 2.92% | 2.00% |
| VISA INC. | 3.09% | 1.50% |
| JOHNSON & JOHNSON | 1.92% | 1.50% |
| WALMART INC. | 1.23% | 1.56% |
| COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION | 1.31% | 1.22% |
| Only in QUAL | Only in XLG |
|---|---|
| LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION 3.23% | Amazon.com, Inc. 6.99% |
| THE TJX COMPANIES, INC. 3.19% | Broadcom Inc. 4.85% |
| KLA CORPORATION 2.79% | Tesla, Inc. 2.90% |
| APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. 2.45% | JPMorgan Chase & Co. 2.28% |
| SLB N.V. 1.56% | Exxon Mobil Corp. 1.74% |
| ARISTA NETWORKS, INC. 1.49% | Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 1.56% |
| QUALCOMM INCORPORATED 1.42% | AbbVie Inc. 1.01% |
| ATMOS ENERGY CORPORATION 1.21% | Chevron Corp. 0.98% |
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.
| QUAL iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF | XLG Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core index fund | Core index fund |
| Issuer | iShares | Invesco |
| What it is | MSCI USA Quality Factor | S&P 500 top 50 |
| Total return, 1 year | +16.0% | +12.2% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +17.5% | +17.5% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | −1.5 pts | −5.3 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.20% |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 98.9% | 100.0% |
| Holdings | 121 | 51 |
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.
XLG in plain words
XLG is an index equity fund tracking the S&P 500 top 50. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +12.2% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.20% a year. By its holdings filed for Apr 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 51 positions, with the top ten at 63.6%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or XLG?
- In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +16.0% and XLG returned +12.2%, so QUAL returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- Which is cheaper, QUAL or XLG?
- QUAL charges 0.15% a year and XLG charges 0.20%, so QUAL is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- How much do QUAL and XLG overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 99% of QUAL and 100% of XLG 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 XLG, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/QUAL-XLG Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources