Which returned more over the last year, FTLS or QQQ?

In the year to Sep 19, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTLS returned +11.9% and QQQ returned +21.8%, so QQQ returned more.

Which is cheaper, FTLS or QQQ?

FTLS charges 1.38% a year and QQQ charges 0.18%, so QQQ is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Are FTLS and QQQ the same kind of fund?

No. FTLS is an alternatives 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 19, 2026.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

FTLS vs QQQ: how they differ

Over the year QQQ returned more, +21.8% to FTLS's +11.9%, and QQQ charges 0.18% to FTLS's 1.38%.

First Trust Long/Short Equity and Invesco QQQ Trust.

FTLS and QQQ on the fields both publish, as of Sep 19, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	FTLS First Trust Long/Short Equity	QQQ Invesco QQQ Trust
Where it sits	Alternatives ETF	Core fund
Issuer	First Trust	Invesco
What it is	Long-short equity	Tracks the Nasdaq-100
Total return, 1 year	+11.9%	+21.8%
S&P 500 over the same days	+16.6%	+16.6%
Gap to the S&P 500	−4.7 pts	+5.2 pts
Expense ratio	1.38%	0.18%
Holdings	not filed	105
Net assets	$2.6bn	$484.3bn

FTLS in plain words

FTLS 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 Sep 18, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.77 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.44, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.44% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 22 of those 52 weeks, by 1.24% on average. In the same weeks FTLS fell 0.52% on average, a down-week capture of 42.3%. Over the same 52 weeks FTLS returned +11.4% and a Treasury bill fund +3.6%, so it finished 7.7 percentage points ahead of cash.

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 returned more over the last year, FTLS or QQQ?: In the year to Sep 19, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTLS returned +11.9% and QQQ returned +21.8%, so QQQ returned more.
Which is cheaper, FTLS or QQQ?: FTLS charges 1.38% a year and QQQ charges 0.18%, so QQQ is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are FTLS and QQQ the same kind of fund?: No. FTLS is an alternatives 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.

FTLS against QQQ, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 19, 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, FTLS against QQQ, data as of Sep 19, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftls-vs-qqq Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources