Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
MDY vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MDY returned +12.8% to QUAL's +13.1%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $25.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust, and $48.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.
Pair scorecard
QUAL costs 0.08 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.3 points; QUAL is 1.9 times larger.
| Measure | MDY | QUAL |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.8% | +13.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.5%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P MidCap 400 Index | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.23% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $25.8bn | $48.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 7.5% | 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: MDY against IJH, Jun 2, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026; QUAL against MLRG, Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
QUAL returned more: +444.7% to +249.5%. QUAL swung less: 16.2% to 19.2%. QUAL fell less at its worst: −31.4% to −39.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | MDY | QUAL | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +249.5% | +444.7% | QUAL | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +9.9% | +13.6% | QUAL | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +195.7% | +346.8% | QUAL | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 19.2% | 16.2% | QUAL | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 13.4% | 11.2% | QUAL | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −39.7% | −31.4% | QUAL | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.9% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.2% | 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 | 0.99 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.49 | 0.75 | QUAL | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.70 | 1.09 | QUAL | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.089 | 0.126 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.25 | 0.43 | QUAL | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IJH | MLRG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.2% a year | +0.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.63 | 0.59 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.8% to +0.4% | −1.4% to +2.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.11 | 0.06 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.7% | 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, MDY 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
MDY and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
MDY and QUAL do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. MDY follows S&P MidCap 400 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. MDY holds 401 positions and QUAL holds 119.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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MDY
MDY tracks the S&P MidCap 400. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.8% with distributions reinvested, against +13.2% for its benchmark, the S&P MidCap 400 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.23% 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 401 positions, with the top ten at 7.5%. It sat 6.5% 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, MDY or QUAL?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MDY returned +12.8% and QUAL +13.1%.
- Which is cheaper, MDY or QUAL?
- QUAL is cheaper, by 0.08 percentage points a year. That is about $8 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.
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ETFIQ, MDY against QUAL, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mdy-vs-qual
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). MDY against QUAL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mdy-vs-qual
[MDY against QUAL (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mdy-vs-qual)
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