Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IWF vs SPHQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWF returned +0.9% to SPHQ's +14.1%; 22% of their weight is in the same names.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about IWF and SPHQ
Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $124.7bn for iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF and $18.7bn for Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPHQ costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 13.2 points; IWF is 6.7 times larger.
| Measure | IWF | SPHQ |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +0.9% | +14.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.8%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | 6.4%, high on Jun 30, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Russell 1000 Growth Index | S&P 500 Quality Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.18% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $124.7bn | $18.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 22% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 57.5% | 43.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 16, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,088 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IWF against VONG, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; SPHQ against IVV, Dec 16, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.
IWF returned more: +1,052.0% to +599.2%. SPHQ swung slightly less: 18.0% to 18.8%. IWF fell less at its worst: −50.4% to −56.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IWF | SPHQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +1,052.0% | +599.2% | IWF | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +12.4% | +9.7% | IWF | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +816.4% | +432.7% | IWF | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 18.8% | 18.0% | SPHQ (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 13.0% | 13.0% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −50.4% | −56.9% | IWF | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.8% | 91.6% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.1% | 97.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.94 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.85 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.62 | 0.51 | IWF | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.90 | 0.70 | IWF | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.149 | 0.097 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.25 | 0.17 | IWF | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VONG | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | −0.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.58 | −0.31 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.6% to +0.3% | −3.5% to +2.5% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.11 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.0% | 7.1% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,088 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, IWF and SPHQ hold 22% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
22% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IWF and SPHQ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IWF and SPHQ do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. IWF follows Russell 1000 Growth Index and SPHQ follows S&P 500 Quality Index.
- Holdings in common. 22% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IWF returned +0.9% and SPHQ +14.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 13.2 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
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.
SPHQ
SPHQ tracks the S&P 500 Quality. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 102 positions, with the top ten at 43.3%. It sat 6.4% below its high of Jun 30, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, IWF or SPHQ?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWF returned +0.9% and SPHQ +14.1%.
- Which is cheaper, IWF or SPHQ?
- SPHQ is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 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, IWF against SPHQ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwf-vs-sphq
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). IWF against SPHQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwf-vs-sphq
[IWF against SPHQ (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwf-vs-sphq)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.