Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BALQ vs QQQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
BALQ and QQQ are measured over different days, and QQQ charges 0.18% to BALQ's 0.35%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $44m for iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF and $483.0bn for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1.
Pair scorecard
QQQ costs 0.17 points a year less; QQQ is far larger, $483.0bn against $44m.
| Measure | BALQ | QQQ |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | not published | +15.2% |
| Cash paid, share of starting value, since Dec 3, 2025 | 9.3% | |
| Price change, since Dec 3, 2025 | rose 11.3% | |
| Latest payout, annualized | 8.0% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 86% of the Oct 6, 2026 payment | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Benchmark: Nasdaq-100, measured through QQQ | Nasdaq-100 Index |
| Against its benchmark, same days | ahead by 4.6 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.18% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $44m | $483.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 65% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 96% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 46.7% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 12, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 45 weekly returnsBALQ returned more: +19.5% to +15.3%. BALQ fell slightly less at its worst: −9.3% to −10.1%.
Full scorecard
3 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BALQ | QQQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +19.5% | +15.3% | BALQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Price return | +9.5% | +14.8% | QQQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Max drawdown | −9.3% | −10.1% | BALQ (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 45 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, BALQ and QQQ hold 65% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
65% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
BALQ and QQQ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
No client brief for this pair: ETFIQ prints no one-year total return for BALQ.
BALQ
Over the period from its first trade on Dec 3, 2025 to Oct 28, 2026, BALQ paid 9.3% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 11.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +21.5%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +16.9% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 4.6 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.0%, paid monthly. iShares estimates that 86% of the distribution paid Oct 6, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
QQQ
QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +15.2% with distributions reinvested, against +15.2% for its benchmark, the Nasdaq-100 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 96% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 103 positions, with the top ten at 46.7%. It sat 4.5% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are BALQ and QQQ in the same category?
- BALQ is an option-income ETF and QQQ is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which is cheaper, BALQ or QQQ?
- QQQ is cheaper, by 0.17 percentage points a year. That is about $17 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. 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.
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ETFIQ, BALQ against QQQ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/balq-vs-qqq
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BALQ against QQQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/balq-vs-qqq
[BALQ against QQQ (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/balq-vs-qqq)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.