CGUS vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
CGUS and QUAL hold 35% of their weight in the same names, and QUAL returned +17.1% over the year. Net assets: $12.2bn on Oct 8, 2026 for Capital Group Core Equity ETF, and $49.0bn on Oct 9, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.
QUAL costs 0.18 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.2 points; QUAL is 4.0 times larger.
| CGUS | QUAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.33% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 8, 2026 | $12.2bn | $48.8bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +14.9% | +17.1% |
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index ? |
| Holdings in common | 35% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 43.1% | 45.7% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, CGUS and QUAL hold 35% 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 May 31, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.
half
35% in common
On the same fields
CGUS and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
About CGUS
CGUS is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +14.9% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.33% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 86% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 66 positions, with the top ten at 43.1%.
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, CGUS or QUAL?
- In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, CGUS returned +14.9% and QUAL +17.1%.
- Which is cheaper, CGUS or QUAL?
- QUAL is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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, CGUS against QUAL, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cgus-vs-qual
ETFIQ. (Oct 9, 2026). CGUS against QUAL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cgus-vs-qual
[CGUS against QUAL (ETFIQ, Oct 9, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cgus-vs-qual)
Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.