Are HEQQ and QQQ in the same category?

HEQQ is an alternatives ETF and QQQ 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, HEQQ or QQQ?

In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HEQQ returned +3.9% and QQQ +12.3%.

Which is cheaper, HEQQ or QQQ?

QQQ is cheaper, by 0.32 percentage points a year. That is about $32 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Across categories

HEQQ vs QQQ: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, HEQQ returned +3.9% to QQQ's +12.3%, and QQQ charges 0.18% to HEQQ's 0.50%.

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Net assets on Nov 3, 2026: $30m for JPMorgan Nasdaq Hedged Equity Laddered Overlay ETF and $464.6bn for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1.

HEQQ on its own →QQQ on its own →

At a glance

+3.9%

HEQQ total return, 1 year

+12.3%

QQQ total return, 1 year

0.50%

HEQQ expense ratio

0.18%

QQQ expense ratio

Pair scorecard

QQQ costs 0.32 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.4 points; QQQ is far larger, $464.6bn against $30m.

HEQQ vs QQQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	HEQQ	QQQ
Return
Measure	HEQQ	QQQ
Total return, 1 year	+3.9%	+12.3%
Total return, 52 weeks	+3.6%
Drawdown
Measure	HEQQ	QQQ
Below its high		8.9%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Against its benchmark
Measure	HEQQ	QQQ
What it tracks	not published	Nasdaq-100 Index
Treasury bills, 52 weeks	+3.7%
Against cash	0.1 points behind
Cost and size
Measure	HEQQ	QQQ
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.18%
Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026	$30m	$464.6bn
Holdings
Measure	HEQQ	QQQ
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		94%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		46.7%
Risk
Measure	HEQQ	QQQ
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns	+0.88
Beta to the S&P 500	+0.81: about 0.81% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell	fell 1.03%
Down-week capture	96.6%
Weeks the S&P 500 fell	26 of 52, by 1.07% on average

Method

Risk and return

Apr 4, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026 · 82 weekly returns

HEQQ QQQ

Return

Total return edge QQQ +28.5% +64.5%

Annualized edge QQQ +17.3% +37.1%

Price return edge QQQ +28.2% +63.4%

Risk

Volatility edge HEQQ 9.2% 19.2%

Max drawdown edge HEQQ −6.3% −10.3%

Downside capture 75.0% 100.2%

Beta 0.63 1.00

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge QQQ 1.35 1.53

Sortino edge QQQ 2.44 2.75

Treynor 0.197 0.141

Calmar edge QQQ 2.73 3.59

Against the benchmark

Alpha −2.3% a year −0.1% a year

Alpha t-stat −0.74 −0.58

Information ratio −1.77 −0.10

Tracking error 6.3% 0.4%

Each against its own benchmark: HEQQ against VOO, Apr 4, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026; QQQ against QQQM, Oct 23, 2020 to Oct 30, 2026.

Reading

From Apr 2025 to Oct 2026, QQQ returned more: +64.5% to +28.5%. HEQQ swung less: 9.2% to 19.2%. HEQQ fell less at its worst: −6.3% to −10.3%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: HEQQ vs QQQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	HEQQ	QQQ	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+28.5%	+64.5%	QQQ	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+17.3%	+37.1%	QQQ	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+28.2%	+63.4%	QQQ	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	9.2%	19.2%	HEQQ	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	5.1%	10.7%	HEQQ	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−6.3%	−10.3%	HEQQ	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	54.1%	100.4%		Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	75.0%	100.2%		Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	0.63	1.00	Not an edge	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	0.82	1.00	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	1.35	1.53	QQQ	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	2.44	2.75	QQQ	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.197	0.141		Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	2.73	3.59	QQQ	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
Benchmark	VOO	QQQM		The ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha	−2.3% a year	−0.1% a year	Not significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	−0.74	−0.58	Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	−8.7% to +4.0%	−0.4% to +0.2%	Includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	−1.77	−0.10		Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	6.3%	0.4%	Not an edge	How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 82 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

HEQQ JPMorgan Nasdaq Hedged Equity Laddered Overlay ETF QQQ Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1

Where it sits Alternatives ETF Stock ETF

Issuer JPMorgan Invesco

What it is Hedged equity Tracks the Nasdaq-100

Total return, 1 year +3.9% +12.3%

Its benchmark over the same days +14.8% (VOO) +12.3% (QQQM)

Gap to its benchmark −10.9 pts vs VOO 0.0 pts vs QQQM

Expense ratio 0.50% 0.18%

Holdings not read by ETFIQ 103

Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 $30m $464.6bn

HEQQ and QQQ on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief:

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About each fund

HEQQ

HEQQ is a hedged equity fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.88 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.81, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.81% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks HEQQ fell 1.03% on average, a down-week capture of 96.6%. Over the same 52 weeks HEQQ returned +3.6% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 0.1 percentage points behind cash.

QQQ

QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 it returned +12.3% with distributions reinvested, against +12.3% for its benchmark, the Nasdaq-100 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Nov 3, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 103 positions, with the top ten at 46.7%. It sat 8.9% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Nov 4, 2026.

Questions people ask

Are HEQQ and QQQ in the same category?: HEQQ is an alternatives ETF and QQQ 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, HEQQ or QQQ?: In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HEQQ returned +3.9% and QQQ +12.3%.
Which is cheaper, HEQQ or QQQ?: QQQ is cheaper, by 0.32 percentage points a year. That is about $32 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

HEQQ vs IVV HEQQ vs VOO HEQQ vs SPY HEQQ vs TLT QBUL vs QQQ QQQ vs ZHDG QQQ vs THEQ QBER vs QQQ

Where to next

BIL, the T-bill fund these are measured against →SPY, the S&P 500 fund these are measured against →HEQQ on its own →QQQ on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →HEQQ dividend history →QQQ dividend history →QQQ holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

HEQQ filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

HEQQ prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

JPMorgan website ↗

QQQ filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

QQQ prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Invesco page for QQQ ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, HEQQ against QQQ, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/heqq-vs-qqq

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