IWF vs QQEW: Differences, Returns & Fees

IWF and QQEW hold 27% of their weight in the same names, and QQEW returned +9.9% over the year. Net assets on Oct 20, 2026: $125.0bn for iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF and $1.8bn for First Trust Nasdaq-100 Select Equal Weight ETF.

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IWF costs 0.37 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.9 points; IWF is far larger, $125.0bn against $1.8bn.

IWF vs QQEW: Differences, Returns & Fees
IWFQQEW
Expense ratio0.18%0.55%
Net assets$125.0bn$1.8bn
Total return, 1 year+4.0%+9.9%
What it tracksRussell 1000 Growth IndexNasdaq-100 Select Equal Weight Index
Holdings in common27%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund57.8%23.1%
Below its high5.2%, high on Oct 6, 20265.8%, high on Aug 13, 2026

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 19, 2026.

+4.0%
IWF total return, 1 year
+9.9%
QQEW total return, 1 year
0.18%
IWF expense ratio
0.55%
QQEW expense ratio

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Client brief · page 1 of 2Report BR-74D47E56C9

IWF and QQEW are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

  1. What each follows. IWF follows Russell 1000 Growth Index and QQEW follows Nasdaq-100 Select Equal Weight Index.
  2. Holdings in common. 27% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 19, 2026).
  3. One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 20, 2026 IWF returned +4.0% and QQEW +9.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.9 points.

Data as of Oct 20, 2026. The differences are picked by a fixed rule, in a fixed order; the PDF prints it. Page 2 has the returns, overlap, risks and sources.

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What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, IWF and QQEW hold 27% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 19, 2026.

half

27% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding IWF QQEW
META PLATFORMS CLASS A 3.81% 2.55%
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 2.63% 2.37%
APPLE 8.06% 2.24%
MICROSOFT 5.95% 2.18%
NVIDIA 15.20% 2.04%
MICRON TECHNOLOGY 3.06% 1.95%
BROADCOM INC 4.67% 1.87%
PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES CLASS A 1.29% 2.16%
LAM RESEARCH 1.02% 1.87%
NETFLIX 0.87% 1.78%
PALO ALTO NETWORKS 0.84% 1.88%
TEXAS INSTRUMENT 0.75% 2.19%
Only in IWF
ALPHABET CLASS A 6.02%
ALPHABET CLASS C 4.86%
TESLA INC 3.23%
ELI LILLY 2.97%
VISA CLASS A 2.05%
MASTERCARD CLASS A 1.49%
CATERPILLAR INC 0.99%
APPLIED MATERIAL INC 0.98%
Only in QQEW
Shopify Inc. (Class A) 2.40%
QUALCOMM Incorporated 2.11%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 2.03%
ASML Holding N.V. (New York Registry Shares) 2.01%
MercadoLibre, Inc. 1.97%
Arm Holdings Plc 1.95%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated 1.91%
Roper Technologies, Inc. 1.87%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

IWF
iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF
QQEW
First Trust Nasdaq-100 Select Equal Weight ETF
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
What it is Tracks the Russell 1000 growth Tracks an index
Total return, 1 year +4.0% +9.9%
Its benchmark over the same days +4.1% (VONG) +15.8% (IVV)
Gap to its benchmark −0.2 pts vs VONG −6.0 pts vs IVV
Expense ratio 0.18% 0.55%
Already in the S&P 500 93.5% 90.8%
Holdings 373 50
Net assets $125.0bn $1.8bn

IWF and QQEW on the fields both publish, as of Oct 20, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

About IWF

IWF tracks the Russell 1000 growth. Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +4.0% with distributions reinvested, against +4.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 19, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 373 positions, with the top ten at 57.8%. It sat 5.2% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 20, 2026.

About QQEW

QQEW tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +9.9% with distributions reinvested, against +15.8% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.55% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 19, 2026, 91% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 50 positions, with the top ten at 23.1%. It sat 5.8% below its high of Aug 13, 2026 on Oct 20, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IWF or QQEW?
In the year to Oct 20, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWF returned +4.0% and QQEW +9.9%.
Which is cheaper, IWF or QQEW?
IWF is cheaper, by 0.37 percentage points a year. That is about $37 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IWF and QQEW overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 94% of IWF and 91% of QQEW by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
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ETFIQ, IWF against QQEW, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwf-vs-qqew

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