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BAFE vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees

BAFE and QUAL hold 29% of their weight in the same names, and QUAL returned +17.1% over the year. Net assets: $1.7bn on Jun 30, 2026 for Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF, and $49.0bn on Oct 9, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.

QUAL costs 0.39 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.8 points; QUAL is far larger, $45.9bn against $1.7bn.

BAFE vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
BAFEQUAL
Expense ratio0.54%0.15%
Net assets, as of Jun 30, 2026$1.7bn$45.9bn
Total return, 1 year+12.3%+17.1%
What it tracksNo index, actively managedMSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index ?
Holdings in common29%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund42.2%45.7%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.

+12.3%
BAFE total return, 1 year
+17.1%
QUAL total return, 1 year
0.54%
BAFE expense ratio
0.15%
QUAL expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, BAFE and QUAL hold 29% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.

half

29% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding BAFE QUAL
MICROSOFT CORPORATION 4.85% 8.01%
META PLATFORMS, INC. 3.64% 4.62%
VISA INC. 4.07% 3.24%
NVIDIA CORPORATION 3.06% 6.49%
KLA CORPORATION 3.48% 2.57%
MASTERCARD INCORPORATED 3.52% 2.28%
ALPHABET INC. 4.04% 1.97%
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. 3.33% 1.81%
APPLE INC. 1.69% 7.03%
ALPHABET INC. 3.83% 1.54%
INTUIT INC. 0.80% 0.49%
THE CHARLES SCHWAB CORPORATION 1.98% 0.43%
Only in BAFE
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited 7.09%
AMAZON.COM, INC. 4.33%
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INCORPORATED 3.24%
UNITED RENTALS, INC. 3.04%
KKR & CO. INC. 2.94%
Suncor Energy Inc. 2.24%
ELEVANCE HEALTH, INC. 1.99%
ANALOG DEVICES, INC. 1.98%
Only in QUAL
LAM RESEARCH 3.69%
ELI LILLY 3.65%
TJX 3.41%
APPLIED MATERIAL INC 3.01%
EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 2.31%
JOHNSON & JOHNSON 2.04%
NETFLIX 1.63%
ARISTA NETWORKS 1.61%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

BAFE
Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF
QUAL
iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
Issuer BROWN iShares
What it is Actively managed Tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor
Total return, 1 year +12.3% +17.1%
Its benchmark over the same days +17.3% (VOO) not published
Gap to its benchmark −5.0 pts vs VOO not available
Expense ratio 0.54% 0.15%
Already in the S&P 500 77.5% 97.2%
Holdings 44 119
Net assets, BAFE as of Jun 30, 2026 and QUAL as of Oct 9, 2026 $1.7bn $49.0bn

BAFE and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

About BAFE

BAFE is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +12.3% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.54% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 78% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 44 positions, with the top ten at 42.2%.

About QUAL

QUAL tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +17.1% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 9, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 119 positions, with the top ten at 45.7%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, BAFE or QUAL?
In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BAFE returned +12.3% and QUAL +17.1%.
Which is cheaper, BAFE or QUAL?
QUAL is cheaper, by 0.39 percentage points a year. That is about $39 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do BAFE and QUAL overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 78% of BAFE and 97% of QUAL by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Other comparisons
BAFE vs ITOTBAFE vs IVVBAFE vs IWBBAFE vs VVQUAL vs QVMLQUAL vs QUSEPS vs QUALQDPL vs QUAL
BAFE on its own →QUAL on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →
Where these figures came from
BAFE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗BAFE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗BROWN website ↗QUAL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗QUAL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗iShares page for QUAL ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, BAFE against QUAL, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bafe-vs-qual

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.