Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IWB vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWB and QUAL finished level, +13.1% against +13.1%, and they share 43% of their weight.
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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $49.1bn for iShares Russell 1000 ETF and $48.2bn for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.
Pair scorecard
Both cost 0.15% a year; both returned +13.1% over a year.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | IWB | QUAL |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.1% | +13.1% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Russell 1000 Index | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Net assets | $49.1bn | $48.2bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 43% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 35.3% | 44.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 691 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IWB against VONE, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; QUAL against MLRG, Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
IWB and QUAL returned about the same: +444.3% and +444.7%. IWB and QUAL swung about the same: 16.3% and 16.2%. QUAL fell slightly less at its worst: −31.4% to −32.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IWB | QUAL | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +444.3% | +444.7% | Tie | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +13.6% | +13.6% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +341.4% | +346.8% | Tie | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.3% | 16.2% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.3% | 11.2% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −32.7% | −31.4% | QUAL (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 100.1% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.1% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.97 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.75 | 0.75 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.08 | 1.09 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.130 | 0.126 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.42 | 0.43 | QUAL (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VONE | MLRG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | +0.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.09 | 0.59 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.5% to +0.5% | −1.4% to +2.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.03 | 0.06 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.0% | 3.7% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
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, IWB and QUAL hold 43% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
43% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IWB and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IWB and QUAL are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. IWB follows Russell 1000 Index and QUAL follows MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index.
- Holdings in common. 43% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- Number of holdings. IWB holds 1,025 positions and QUAL holds 119.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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IWB
IWB tracks the Russell 1000. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.2% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,025 positions, with the top ten at 35.3%.
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
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How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, IWB against QUAL, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwb-vs-qual
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