Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
GARP vs XLG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GARP returned +18.0% to XLG's +6.4%; 44% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $3.6bn for iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF and $11.9bn for Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF.
Pair scorecard
GARP costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.6 points; XLG is 3.3 times larger.
| Measure | GARP | XLG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +18.0% | +6.4% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 7.0%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI USA Quality GARP Select Index | S&P 500 Top 50 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.20% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $3.6bn | $11.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 44% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 43.5% | 60.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jan 24, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026 · 352 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: GARP against PBUS, Jan 24, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026; XLG against IVV, May 20, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.
GARP returned more: +232.4% to +177.9%. XLG swung less: 19.5% to 22.3%. XLG fell slightly less at its worst: −28.7% to −30.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GARP | XLG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +232.4% | +177.9% | GARP | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +19.4% | +16.3% | GARP | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +215.4% | +159.3% | GARP | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 22.3% | 19.5% | XLG | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.9% | 13.2% | XLG | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −30.1% | −28.7% | XLG (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 133.9% | 97.7% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 109.0% | 98.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.10 | 0.95 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.88 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.78 | 0.72 | GARP (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.16 | 1.07 | GARP (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.157 | 0.108 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.65 | 0.57 | GARP | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | PBUS | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +3.4% a year | +0.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 1.15 | 0.68 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.4% to +9.2% | −1.0% to +2.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.59 | 0.02 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 7.9% | 3.8% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 352 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, GARP and XLG hold 44% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
44% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
GARP and XLG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
GARP and XLG do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. GARP follows MSCI USA Quality GARP Select Index and XLG follows S&P 500 Top 50 Index.
- Holdings in common. 44% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GARP returned +18.0% and XLG +6.4% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.6 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
XLG
XLG tracks the S&P 500 top 50. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +6.4% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.20% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 98% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 53 positions, with the top ten at 60.3%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, GARP or XLG?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GARP returned +18.0% and XLG +6.4%.
- Which is cheaper, GARP or XLG?
- GARP 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.
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, GARP against XLG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/garp-vs-xlg
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