Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IWM vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWM returned +14.1% to QUAL's +13.1%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $75.5bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Russell 2000 ETF, and $48.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.
Pair scorecard
QUAL costs 0.04 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.0 point; IWM is 1.5 times larger.
| Measure | IWM | QUAL |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +14.1% | +13.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 7.6%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Russell 2000 Index | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.19% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $74.6bn | $48.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 3.3% | 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: IWM against VTWO, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; QUAL against MLRG, Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
QUAL returned more: +444.7% to +214.2%. QUAL swung less: 16.2% to 21.3%. QUAL fell less at its worst: −31.4% to −40.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IWM | QUAL | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +214.2% | +444.7% | QUAL | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +9.0% | +13.6% | QUAL | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +164.8% | +346.8% | QUAL | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 21.3% | 16.2% | QUAL | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.7% | 11.2% | QUAL | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −40.2% | −31.4% | QUAL | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 101.0% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.5% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.01 | 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 | 0.42 | 0.75 | QUAL | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.61 | 1.09 | QUAL | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.106 | 0.126 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.22 | 0.43 | QUAL | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VTWO | MLRG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | +0.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.36 | 0.59 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.6% to +0.4% | −1.4% to +2.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.02 | 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, IWM and QUAL hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IWM and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IWM and QUAL do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. IWM follows Russell 2000 Index and QUAL follows MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- Number of holdings. IWM holds 1,977 positions and QUAL holds 119.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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IWM
IWM tracks the Russell 2000. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.1% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.19% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,977 positions, with the top ten at 3.3%. It sat 7.6% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
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, IWM or QUAL?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWM returned +14.1% and QUAL +13.1%.
- Which is cheaper, IWM or QUAL?
- QUAL is cheaper, by 0.04 percentage points a year. That is about $4 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, IWM against QUAL, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwm-vs-qual
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). IWM against QUAL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwm-vs-qual
[IWM against QUAL (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwm-vs-qual)
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