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FTGS vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees

FTGS and QUAL hold 25% of their weight in the same names, and QUAL returned +17.1% over the year. Net assets on Oct 9, 2026: $1.3bn for First Trust Growth Strength ETF and $49.0bn for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.

QUAL costs 0.45 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.1 points; QUAL is far larger, $49.0bn against $1.3bn.

FTGS vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
FTGSQUAL
Expense ratio0.60%0.15%
Net assets$1.3bn$49.0bn
Total return, 1 year+7.0%+17.1%
What it tracksGrowth Strength IndexMSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index ?
Holdings in common25%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund24.9%45.7%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 9, 2026.

+7.0%
FTGS total return, 1 year
+17.1%
QUAL total return, 1 year
0.60%
FTGS expense ratio
0.15%
QUAL expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, FTGS and QUAL hold 25% 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 Oct 9, 2026.

half

25% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding FTGS QUAL
Microsoft Corporation 2.62% 8.01%
NVIDIA Corporation 2.18% 6.49%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) 2.15% 4.62%
Mastercard Incorporated 2.09% 2.28%
Eli Lilly and Company 1.93% 3.65%
Netflix, Inc. 1.97% 1.63%
Arista Networks, Inc. 2.48% 1.61%
Fortinet, Inc. 2.33% 1.35%
Ross Stores, Inc. 1.84% 1.34%
Costco Wholesale Corporation 1.94% 1.07%
Adobe Incorporated 1.97% 0.92%
Garmin Ltd. 2.08% 0.81%
Only in FTGS
Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A) 3.05%
Marvell Technology, Inc. 2.82%
Newmont Corporation 2.54%
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. 2.37%
Amphenol Corporation 2.23%
Target Corporation 2.13%
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. 2.04%
Baker Hughes Company (Class A) 1.96%
Only in QUAL
APPLE 7.03%
LAM RESEARCH 3.69%
TJX 3.41%
VISA CLASS A 3.24%
APPLIED MATERIAL INC 3.01%
KLA 2.57%
EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 2.31%
JOHNSON & JOHNSON 2.04%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

FTGS
First Trust Growth Strength ETF
QUAL
iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
Issuer First Trust iShares
What it is Tracks an index Tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor
Total return, 1 year +7.0% +17.1%
Expense ratio 0.60% 0.15%
Already in the S&P 500 93.8% 97.2%
Holdings 50 119
Net assets $1.3bn $49.0bn

FTGS and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

About FTGS

FTGS tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +7.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.60% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 9, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 50 positions, with the top ten at 24.9%.

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, FTGS or QUAL?
In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTGS returned +7.0% and QUAL +17.1%.
Which is cheaper, FTGS or QUAL?
QUAL is cheaper, by 0.45 percentage points a year. That is about $45 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FTGS and QUAL overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 94% of FTGS and 97% of QUAL by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Other comparisons
FTGS vs IWBFTGS vs VVFTGS vs SCHBCGDV vs FTGSQUAL vs VOTEQUAL vs QUSIYZ vs QUALMODL vs QUAL
FTGS on its own →QUAL on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →
Where these figures came from
FTGS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗FTGS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗First Trust page for FTGS ↗QUAL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗QUAL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗iShares page for QUAL ↗

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, FTGS against QUAL, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftgs-vs-qual

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.