Which is cheaper, DQSE or QQQ?

DQSE charges 0.90% a year and QQQ charges 0.18%, so QQQ is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Are DQSE and QQQ the same kind of fund?

No. DQSE is a buffer ETF and QQQ is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Data as of Sep 21, 2026.

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DQSE vs QQQ: how they differ

DQSE and QQQ are measured over different days, and QQQ charges 0.18% to DQSE's 0.90%.

FT Vest Nasdaq-100 Dual Directional Buffer ETF - September and Invesco QQQ Trust.

DQSE and QQQ on the fields both publish, as of Sep 21, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	DQSE FT Vest Nasdaq-100 Dual Directional Buffer ETF - September	QQQ Invesco QQQ Trust
Where it sits	Buffer ETF	Core fund
Issuer	First Trust	Invesco
What it is	Defined outcome, 0% to 10% on QQQ	Tracks the Nasdaq-100
Total return, 1 year	not published	+21.8%
S&P 500 over the same days	not published	+16.6%
Gap to the S&P 500	not available	+5.2 pts
Expense ratio	0.90%	0.18%
Holdings	not filed	105
Net assets	$1m	$484.3bn

DQSE in plain words

From its price on Sep 21, 2026, the fund can gain about 16.2% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 2.3% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, QQQ can fall 2.6% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 10.0% of the 10.0% buffer still sits below today's QQQ level. 361 days remained on Sep 21, 2026. On Sep 17, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.

QQQ in plain words

QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026 it returned +21.8% with distributions reinvested, against +16.6% for the S&P 500 and +21.8% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Sep 19, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 105 positions, with the top ten at 47.7%. It sat 3.2% below its high of Jun 2, 2026 on Sep 18, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, DQSE or QQQ?: DQSE charges 0.90% a year and QQQ charges 0.18%, so QQQ is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are DQSE and QQQ the same kind of fund?: No. DQSE is a buffer ETF and QQQ is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

DQSE against QQQ, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 21, 2026. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, DQSE against QQQ, data as of Sep 21, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dqse-vs-qqq Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources