Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
CAIQ vs QQQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
CAIQ and QQQ are measured over different days, and QQQ charges 0.18% to CAIQ's 0.74%.
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askIQ about CAIQ and QQQ
Net assets: $286m on Jul 31, 2026 for Calamos Nasdaq Autocallable Income ETF, and $483.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1.
Pair scorecard
QQQ costs 0.56 points a year less.
| Measure | CAIQ | QQQ |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | not published | +15.2% |
| Cash paid, share of starting value, since Nov 20, 2025 | 15.2% | |
| Price change, since Nov 20, 2025 | rose 0.3% | |
| Latest payout, annualized | 18.3% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 100% of the Oct 8, 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 | behind by 8.2 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.74% | 0.18% |
| Net assets, CAIQ as of Jul 31, 2026 and QQQ as of Oct 27, 2026 | $286m | $483.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 96% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 46.7% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 28, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 47 weekly returnsQQQ returned more: +14.3% to +9.9%. CAIQ fell less at its worst: −8.1% to −10.1%.
Full scorecard
3 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | CAIQ | QQQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +9.9% | +14.3% | QQQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Price return | −5.2% | +13.8% | QQQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Max drawdown | −8.1% | −10.1% | CAIQ | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 47 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, CAIQ and QQQ hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
CAIQ 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 CAIQ.
CAIQ
Over the period from its first trade on Nov 20, 2025 to Oct 28, 2026, CAIQ paid 15.2% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 0.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +16.3%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +24.5% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 8.2 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 18.3%, paid monthly. Calamos estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Oct 8, 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 CAIQ and QQQ in the same category?
- CAIQ 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, CAIQ or QQQ?
- QQQ is cheaper, by 0.56 percentage points a year. That is about $56 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, CAIQ against QQQ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/caiq-vs-qqq
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). CAIQ against QQQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/caiq-vs-qqq
[CAIQ against QQQ (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/caiq-vs-qqq)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.