Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
ITOT vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ITOT returned +13.4% to QUAL's +13.1%; 42% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $97.1bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF, and $48.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.
Pair scorecard
ITOT costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.3 points; ITOT is 2.0 times larger.
| Measure | ITOT | QUAL |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.4% | +13.1% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P Total Market Index (TMI) | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $96.5bn | $48.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 42% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 33.9% | 44.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 691 weekly returnsQUAL returned slightly more: +444.7% to +433.4%. ITOT and QUAL swung about the same: 16.4% and 16.2%. QUAL fell slightly less at its worst: −31.4% to −33.2%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | ITOT | QUAL | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +433.4% | +444.7% | QUAL (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +13.4% | +13.6% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +328.2% | +346.8% | QUAL (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.4% | 16.2% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.4% | 11.2% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −33.2% | −31.4% | QUAL (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.73 | 0.75 | QUAL (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.05 | 1.09 | QUAL (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.40 | 0.43 | QUAL (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 691 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, ITOT and QUAL hold 42% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
42% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
ITOT and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
ITOT and QUAL are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. ITOT follows S&P Total Market Index (TMI) and QUAL follows MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index.
- Holdings in common. 42% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- Number of holdings. ITOT holds 2,443 positions and QUAL holds 119.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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ITOT
ITOT tracks the S&P Total U.S. Stock Market. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 88% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,443 positions, with the top ten at 33.9%.
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. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. 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, ITOT or QUAL?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ITOT returned +13.4% and QUAL +13.1%.
- Which is cheaper, ITOT or QUAL?
- ITOT is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, ITOT against QUAL, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/itot-vs-qual
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). ITOT against QUAL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/itot-vs-qual
[ITOT against QUAL (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/itot-vs-qual)
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