Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
CBLS vs QQQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, CBLS returned +1.2% to QQQ's +12.3%, and QQQ charges 0.18% to CBLS's 1.89%.
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Net assets: $56m on Jul 31, 2026 for Clough Hedged Equity ETF, and $464.6bn on Nov 3, 2026 for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1.
Pair scorecard
QQQ costs 1.71 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.1 points.
| Measure | CBLS | QQQ |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.2% | +12.3% |
| Total return, 52 weeks | +1.1% | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 8.9%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | not published | Nasdaq-100 Index |
| Treasury bills, 52 weeks | +3.7% | |
| Against cash | 2.5 points behind | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 1.89% | 0.18% |
| Net assets, CBLS as of Jul 31, 2026 and QQQ as of Nov 3, 2026 | $56m | $464.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 94% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 46.7% | |
| Risk | ||
| Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns | +0.59 | |
| Beta to the S&P 500 | +0.97: about 0.97% for each 1% | |
| Its average week when the S&P 500 fell | fell 1.61% | |
| Down-week capture | 150.0% | |
| Weeks the S&P 500 fell | 26 of 52, by 1.07% on average | |
Risk and return
Nov 20, 2020 to Oct 30, 2026 · 310 weekly returnsFrom Nov 2020 to Oct 2026, QQQ returned more: +146.3% to +47.8%. CBLS swung less: 16.6% to 20.7%. CBLS fell slightly less at its worst: −31.7% to −35.1%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | CBLS | QQQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +47.8% | +146.3% | QQQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +6.8% | +16.3% | QQQ | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +44.8% | +137.8% | QQQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.6% | 20.7% | CBLS | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.4% | 13.6% | CBLS | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −31.7% | −35.1% | CBLS (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.28 | 0.67 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.40 | 1.02 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.21 | 0.47 | QQQ | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 310 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
CBLS and QQQ on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
Client brief:
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CBLS
CBLS is a long-short equity fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.59 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.97, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.97% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks CBLS fell 1.61% on average, a down-week capture of 150.0%. Over the same 52 weeks CBLS returned +1.1% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 2.5 percentage points behind cash.
QQQ
QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 it returned +12.3% with distributions reinvested, against +12.3% for its benchmark, the Nasdaq-100 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Nov 3, 2026, 94% 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 8.9% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Nov 4, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are CBLS and QQQ in the same category?
- CBLS is an alternatives ETF and QQQ is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, CBLS or QQQ?
- In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, CBLS returned +1.2% and QQQ +12.3%.
- Which is cheaper, CBLS or QQQ?
- QQQ is cheaper, by 1.71 percentage points a year. That is about $171 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, CBLS against QQQ, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cbls-vs-qqq
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). CBLS against QQQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cbls-vs-qqq
[CBLS against QQQ (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cbls-vs-qqq)
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