Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
GDX vs SPHQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, GDX returned +24.8% to SPHQ's +16.8%, and SPHQ charges 0.15% to GDX's 0.51%.
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Net assets on Nov 3, 2026: $23.9bn for VanEck Gold Miners ETF and $18.6bn for Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPHQ costs 0.36 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.0 points; GDX is 1.3 times larger.
| Measure | GDX | SPHQ |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +24.8% | +16.8% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 27.0%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | |
| Below its high | 5.9%, high on Jun 30, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Gold miners | S&P 500 Quality Index |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | ahead by 9.8 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.51% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $23.9bn | $18.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 2% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 60% | 44.1% |
Risk and return
Jun 2, 2006 to Oct 30, 2026 · 1,065 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: GDX against ACWI, Apr 4, 2008 to Oct 30, 2026; SPHQ against IVV, Dec 16, 2005 to Oct 30, 2026.
From Jun 2006 to Oct 2026, SPHQ returned more: +571.3% to +138.5%. SPHQ swung less: 17.9% to 38.4%. SPHQ fell less at its worst: −56.9% to −79.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GDX | SPHQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +138.5% | +571.3% | SPHQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.3% | +9.7% | SPHQ | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +97.0% | +411.5% | SPHQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 38.4% | 17.9% | SPHQ | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 26.4% | 13.0% | SPHQ | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −79.2% | −56.9% | SPHQ | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 50.2% | 91.6% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 75.2% | 97.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.76 | 0.94 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.13 | 0.85 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.26 | 0.51 | SPHQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.38 | 0.71 | SPHQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.124 | 0.097 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.05 | 0.17 | SPHQ | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWI | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +3.2% a year | −0.4% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.39 | −0.29 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −13.2% to +19.7% | −3.5% to +2.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.03 | −0.14 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 36.4% | 7.1% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,065 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, GDX and SPHQ hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Nov 3, 2026.
half
2% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
GDX and SPHQ on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
Client brief:
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GDX
By weight, 12% of GDX's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 60% of the fund across 59 positions, as published by its issuer for Nov 3, 2026. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 the fund returned +24.8% with distributions reinvested against +15.0% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Index, so a holder was ahead by 9.8 pts. It sits 27.0% below its all-time high of Feb 27, 2026.
SPHQ
SPHQ tracks the S&P 500 Quality. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 it returned +16.8% with distributions reinvested, against +14.8% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Nov 3, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 102 positions, with the top ten at 44.1%. It sat 5.9% below its high of Jun 30, 2026 on Nov 4, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are GDX and SPHQ in the same category?
- GDX is a thematic ETF and SPHQ is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, GDX or SPHQ?
- In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GDX returned +24.8% and SPHQ +16.8%.
- Which is cheaper, GDX or SPHQ?
- SPHQ is cheaper, by 0.36 percentage points a year. That is about $36 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, GDX against SPHQ, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gdx-vs-sphq
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