Which returned more over the last year, FXL or QTEC?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FXL returned +29.0% and QTEC +29.4%.

Which is cheaper, FXL or QTEC?

QTEC is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do FXL and QTEC overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 50% of FXL and 81% of QTEC by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FXL vs QTEC: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FXL returned +29.0% to QTEC's +29.4%; 29% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $2.8bn for First Trust Technology AlphaDEX Fund and $4.6bn for First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund.

FXL on its own →QTEC on its own →

At a glance

+29.0%

FXL total return, 1 year

+29.4%

QTEC total return, 1 year

0.60%

FXL expense ratio

0.55%

QTEC expense ratio

Pair scorecard

QTEC costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.4 points; QTEC is 1.6 times larger.

FXL vs QTEC: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FXL	QTEC
Return
Measure	FXL	QTEC
Total return, 1 year	+29.0%	+29.4%
Drawdown
Measure	FXL	QTEC
Below its high		7.6%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	FXL	QTEC
What it tracks	StrataQuant Technology Index	Nasdaq-100 Technology Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	FXL	QTEC
Expense ratio	0.60%	0.55%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$2.8bn	$4.6bn
Holdings
Measure	FXL	QTEC
Holdings in common	29%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	17.0%	25.2%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

May 18, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,014 weekly returns

FXL QTEC

Return

Total return edge QTEC +1,055.5% +1,463.3%

Annualized edge QTEC +13.4% +15.1%

Price return edge QTEC +995.5% +1,320.4%

Risk

Volatility edge FXL (slight) 23.7% 24.6%

Max drawdown edge QTEC (slight) −60.5% −57.8%

Downside capture 111.5% 115.4%

Beta 1.13 1.19

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge QTEC (slight) 0.58 0.64

Sortino edge QTEC (slight) 0.85 0.93

Treynor 0.122 0.128

Calmar edge QTEC 0.22 0.26

Against the benchmark

Alpha +2.4% a year +2.9% a year

Alpha t-stat 0.91 1.07

Information ratio 0.32 0.39

Tracking error 11.8% 12.6%

Each against its own benchmark: FXL against IWB, May 18, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026; QTEC against IVV, May 12, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

QTEC returned more: +1,463.3% to +1,055.5%. FXL swung slightly less: 23.7% to 24.6%. QTEC fell slightly less at its worst: −57.8% to −60.5%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: FXL vs QTEC: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FXL	QTEC	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+1,055.5%	+1,463.3%	QTEC	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+13.4%	+15.1%	QTEC	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+995.5%	+1,320.4%	QTEC	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	23.7%	24.6%	FXL (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	16.4%	16.8%	FXL (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−60.5%	−57.8%	QTEC (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	137.3%	151.5%		Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	111.5%	115.4%		Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	1.13	1.19	Not an edge	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	0.76	0.75	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.58	0.64	QTEC (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.85	0.93	QTEC (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.122	0.128		Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.22	0.26	QTEC	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
Benchmark	IWB	IVV		The ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha	+2.4% a year	+2.9% a year	Not significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	0.91	1.07	Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	−2.8% to +7.5%	−2.4% to +8.2%	Includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	0.32	0.39		Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	11.8%	12.6%	Not an edge	How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,014 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

29%

By the books each fund has filed, FXL and QTEC hold 29% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

29% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FXL QTEC

Fortinet, Inc. 1.54% 2.37%

CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (Class A) 1.51% 2.54%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. 1.50% 2.30%

Roper Technologies, Inc. 1.48% 2.24%

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 1.36% 2.61%

Analog Devices, Inc. 1.28% 2.58%

Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A) 1.26% 2.34%

Apple Inc. 1.24% 2.40%

Datadog, Inc. (Class A) 1.22% 2.60%

NVIDIA Corporation 1.14% 2.16%

Marvell Technology, Inc. 1.10% 2.52%

Intuit Inc. 1.06% 2.00%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FXL

EPAM Systems, Inc. 1.83%

Atlassian Corporation (Class A) 1.82%

Rubrik, Inc. (Class A) 1.76%

NIQ Global Intelligence Plc 1.73%

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation 1.71%

RingCentral, Inc. (Class A) 1.70%

PTC Inc. 1.65%

NetApp, Inc. 1.61%

Only in QTEC

NXP Semiconductors N.V. 2.47%

Shopify Inc. (Class A) 2.47%

Thomson Reuters Corporation 2.38%

Synopsys, Inc. 2.37%

Strategy Incorporated (Class A) 2.33%

Intel Corporation 2.30%

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. 2.22%

ASML Holding N.V. (New York Registry Shares) 2.11%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FXL First Trust Technology AlphaDEX Fund QTEC First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer First Trust First Trust

What it is Tracks an index Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +29.0% +29.4%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.1% (IWB) +13.7% (IVV)

Gap to its benchmark +15.9 pts vs IWB +15.7 pts vs IVV

Expense ratio 0.60% 0.55%

Already in the S&P 500 50.0% 80.9%

Holdings 110 47

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $2.8bn $4.6bn

FXL and QTEC on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-9B7FB624FB

FXL and QTEC are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

What each follows. FXL follows StrataQuant Technology Index and QTEC follows Nasdaq-100 Technology Sector Index.
Holdings in common. 29% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return (similar). Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FXL returned +29.0% and QTEC +29.4% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 0.4 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

FXL

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +29.0% with distributions reinvested, against +13.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Index.

FXL tracks an index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.60% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 50% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 110 positions, with the top ten at 17.0%.

QTEC

QTEC tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +29.4% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.55% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 81% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 47 positions, with the top ten at 25.2%. It sat 7.6% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, FXL or QTEC?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FXL returned +29.0% and QTEC +29.4%.
Which is cheaper, FXL or QTEC?: QTEC is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FXL and QTEC overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 50% of FXL and 81% of QTEC by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FXL vs TRFK FXL vs IYW FXL vs TDIV FXL vs RSPT QTEC vs TRFK QTEC vs XNTK QTEC vs TDIV QTEC vs RSPT

Where to next

FXL on its own →QTEC on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →FXL dividend history →FXL holdings →QTEC dividend history →QTEC holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

FXL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FXL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FXL ↗

QTEC filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

QTEC prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for QTEC ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, FXL against QTEC, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fxl-vs-qtec

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