Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BOXX vs QQQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
BOXX is an actively managed short-term fund and QQQ an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QQQ returned +15.2% against +4.0%.
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Net assets: $14.5bn on Oct 28, 2026 for Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF, and $483.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1.
Pair scorecard
QQQ costs 0.01 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.2 points; QQQ is far larger, $476.7bn against $14.4bn.
| Measure | BOXX | QQQ |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +4.0% | +15.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Nasdaq-100 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.19% | 0.18% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $14.4bn | $476.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 96% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 46.7% | |
Risk and return
Jan 6, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 198 weekly returnsQQQ returned more: +167.7% to +18.9%. BOXX swung less: 0.2% to 19.2%. BOXX fell less at its worst: −0.1% to −21.3%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BOXX | QQQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +18.9% | +167.7% | QQQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.6% | +29.5% | QQQ | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +18.6% | +162.1% | QQQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 0.2% | 19.2% | BOXX | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 0.2% | 12.0% | BOXX | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −0.1% | −21.3% | BOXX | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.25 | 1.20 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.35 | 1.93 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | Not measured | 1.38 | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 198 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
BOXX and QQQ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BOXX and QQQ do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BOXX follows No index, actively managed and QQQ follows Nasdaq-100 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 BOXX returned +4.0% and QQQ +15.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.2 points.
- Size. BOXX has $14.4bn in net assets and QQQ $476.7bn (net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026); QQQ is 33.1 times larger.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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BOXX
BOXX is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +4.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.19% a year.
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
- Which returned more over the last year, BOXX or QQQ?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BOXX returned +4.0% and QQQ +15.2%.
- Which is cheaper, BOXX or QQQ?
- QQQ is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, BOXX against QQQ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/boxx-vs-qqq
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BOXX against QQQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/boxx-vs-qqq
[BOXX against QQQ (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/boxx-vs-qqq)
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