Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
FTEC vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FTEC returned +25.0% to QUAL's +13.1%; 29% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $22.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Fidelity MSCI Information Technology Index ETF, and $48.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.
Pair scorecard
FTEC costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.9 points; QUAL is 2.2 times larger.
| Measure | FTEC | QUAL |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +25.0% | +13.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.9%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI USA IMI Information Technology 25/50 Index | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.08% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $22.1bn | $47.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 29% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 62.2% | 44.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 677 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: FTEC against VGT, Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026; QUAL against MLRG, Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
FTEC returned more: +1,178.5% to +408.0%. QUAL swung less: 16.3% to 21.3%. QUAL fell slightly less at its worst: −31.4% to −34.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FTEC | QUAL | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +1,178.5% | +408.0% | FTEC | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +21.6% | +13.3% | FTEC | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +1,031.1% | +318.1% | FTEC | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 21.3% | 16.3% | QUAL | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.1% | 11.3% | QUAL | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −34.1% | −31.4% | QUAL (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.7% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.0% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.97 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.94 | 0.73 | FTEC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.41 | 1.05 | FTEC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.199 | 0.126 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.63 | 0.42 | FTEC | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VGT | MLRG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | +0.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.70 | 0.59 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.5% to +0.2% | −1.4% to +2.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.19 | 0.06 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.7% | 3.7% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 677 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, FTEC and QUAL hold 29% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
29% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
FTEC and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
FTEC and QUAL do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. FTEC follows MSCI USA IMI Information Technology 25/50 Index and QUAL follows MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index.
- Holdings in common. 29% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FTEC returned +25.0% and QUAL +13.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.9 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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FTEC
FTEC tracks the MSCI Information Technology. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +25.0% with distributions reinvested, against +24.7% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA IMI Information Technology 25/50 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 88% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 281 positions, with the top ten at 62.2%. It sat 4.9% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
QUAL
QUAL tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 119 positions, with the top ten at 44.5%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, FTEC or QUAL?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTEC returned +25.0% and QUAL +13.1%.
- Which is cheaper, FTEC or QUAL?
- FTEC is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 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.
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ETFIQ, FTEC against QUAL, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftec-vs-qual
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). FTEC against QUAL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftec-vs-qual
[FTEC against QUAL (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftec-vs-qual)
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