Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IWF vs QQQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWF returned +0.9% to QQQ's +15.2%; 59% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $124.7bn for iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF and $483.0bn for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1.
Pair scorecard
Both cost 0.18% a year; their one-year returns differ by 14.3 points; QQQ is 3.9 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | IWF | QQQ |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +0.9% | +15.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.8%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Russell 1000 Growth Index | Nasdaq-100 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.18% | 0.18% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $124.7bn | $483.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 59% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 57.5% | 46.7% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jun 2, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,377 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IWF against VONG, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; QQQ against QQQM, Oct 23, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026.
QQQ returned more: +792.6% to +629.2%. IWF swung less: 19.1% to 23.0%. IWF fell less at its worst: −63.4% to −80.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IWF | QQQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +629.2% | +792.6% | QQQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +7.8% | +8.6% | QQQ (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +457.0% | +652.3% | QQQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 19.1% | 23.0% | IWF | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 13.5% | 16.2% | IWF | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −63.4% | −80.2% | IWF | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.8% | 100.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.1% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.40 | 0.40 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.56 | 0.57 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.149 | 0.145 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.12 | 0.11 | IWF | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VONG | QQQM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.58 | −0.58 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.6% to +0.3% | −0.4% to +0.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.11 | −0.10 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.0% | 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, 1,377 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, IWF and QQQ hold 59% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
59% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IWF and QQQ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IWF and QQQ are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. IWF follows Russell 1000 Growth Index and QQQ follows Nasdaq-100 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IWF returned +0.9% and QQQ +15.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 14.3 points.
- Number of holdings. IWF holds 374 positions and QQQ holds 103.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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IWF
IWF tracks the Russell 1000 growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +0.9% with distributions reinvested, against +1.1% 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 27, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 374 positions, with the top ten at 57.5%. It sat 4.8% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
QQQ
QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +15.2% with distributions reinvested, against +15.2% for its benchmark, the Nasdaq-100 Index. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 96% 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 4.5% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
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, IWF against QQQ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwf-vs-qqq
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). IWF against QQQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwf-vs-qqq
[IWF against QQQ (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwf-vs-qqq)
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