Which returned more over the last year, GARP or QUAL?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GARP returned +18.0% and QUAL +13.1%.

Which is cheaper, GARP or QUAL?

Neither: GARP and QUAL both charge 0.15% a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do GARP and QUAL overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 94% of GARP and 97% of QUAL by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

GARP vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GARP returned +18.0% to QUAL's +13.1%; 45% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $3.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF, and $48.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.

GARP on its own →QUAL on its own →

At a glance

+18.0%

GARP total return, 1 year

+13.1%

QUAL total return, 1 year

0.15%

GARP expense ratio

0.15%

QUAL expense ratio

Pair scorecard

Both cost 0.15% a year; their one-year returns differ by 4.9 points; QUAL is 13.8 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

GARP vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GARP	QUAL
Return
Measure	GARP	QUAL
Total return, 1 year	+18.0%	+13.1%
Drawdown
Measure	GARP	QUAL
Below its high	7.0%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GARP	QUAL
What it tracks	MSCI USA Quality GARP Select Index	MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index
Cost and size
Measure	GARP	QUAL
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026	$3.5bn	$48.3bn
Holdings
Measure	GARP	QUAL
Holdings in common	45%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	43.5%	44.5%

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

What they share

45%

By the books each fund has filed, GARP and QUAL hold 45% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

45% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first GARP QUAL

MICROSOFT 5.67% 8.09%

APPLE 5.66% 7.38%

NVIDIA 5.18% 6.28%

META PLATFORMS CLASS A 4.72% 4.06%

VISA CLASS A 5.13% 3.44%

LAM RESEARCH 3.31% 2.84%

APPLIED MATERIAL INC 2.07% 2.39%

KLA 3.09% 2.05%

ALPHABET CLASS A 2.24% 1.82%

ELI LILLY 1.78% 4.04%

ALPHABET CLASS C 2.12% 1.43%

ARISTA NETWORKS 1.32% 1.42%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in GARP

MICRON TECHNOLOGY 4.61%

CATERPILLAR INC 3.29%

PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES CLASS A 2.86%

AMAZON.COM INC 2.12%

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 2.01%

MERCADOLIBRE 1.86%

ROYAL CARIBBEAN GROUP 1.83%

INTEL CORPORATION 1.81%

Only in QUAL

TJX 3.50%

EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 2.50%

JOHNSON & JOHNSON 2.14%

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CLASS B 1.94%

ROSS STORES INC 1.41%

MERCK & CO INC 1.34%

AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING INC 1.28%

COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP 1.14%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

GARP iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF QUAL iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI USA Quality GARP Tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor

Total return, 1 year +18.0% +13.1%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.3% (PBUS) +13.6% (MLRG)

Gap to its benchmark +4.7 pts vs PBUS −0.5 pts vs MLRG

Expense ratio 0.15% 0.15%

Already in the S&P 500 94.4% 97.2%

Holdings 131 119

Net assets, GARP as of Oct 27, 2026 and QUAL as of Oct 28, 2026 $3.6bn $48.2bn

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

Alert

About each fund

GARP

GARP tracks the MSCI USA Quality GARP. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.0% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% 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, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 131 positions, with the top ten at 43.5%. It sat 7.0% 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. 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, GARP or QUAL?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GARP returned +18.0% and QUAL +13.1%.
Which is cheaper, GARP or QUAL?: Neither: GARP and QUAL both charge 0.15% a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do GARP and QUAL overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 94% of GARP and 97% of QUAL by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

GARP vs IVV GARP vs IWB GARP vs SCHB GARP vs SCHX QUAL vs VOOG QUAL vs VONG QUAL vs SPYG QUAL vs SCHG

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

GARP and QUAL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

GARP prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for GARP ↗

QUAL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for QUAL ↗

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, GARP against QUAL, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/garp-vs-qual

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