Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
MOAT vs QQQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MOAT returned +10.3% to QQQ's +15.2%; 18% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $11.6bn for VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF and $483.0bn for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1.
Pair scorecard
QQQ costs 0.28 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.9 points; QQQ is far larger, $483.0bn against $11.6bn.
| Measure | MOAT | QQQ |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +10.3% | +15.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.7%, high on Aug 27, 2026 | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index | Nasdaq-100 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.46% | 0.18% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $11.6bn | $483.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 18% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 26.5% | 46.7% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 4, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 755 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: MOAT against VOO, May 4, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026; QQQ against QQQM, Oct 23, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026.
QQQ returned more: +1,133.7% to +559.2%. MOAT swung slightly less: 17.1% to 18.9%. MOAT fell less at its worst: −30.8% to −35.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | MOAT | QQQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +559.2% | +1,133.7% | QQQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +13.9% | +18.9% | QQQ | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +453.0% | +988.7% | QQQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 17.1% | 18.9% | MOAT (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.6% | 12.5% | MOAT (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −30.8% | −35.1% | MOAT | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 98.2% | 100.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.0% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.98 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.81 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.74 | 0.92 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.10 | 1.39 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.130 | 0.145 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.45 | 0.54 | QQQ | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VOO | 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 | −0.06 | −0.58 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −4.0% to +3.8% | −0.4% to +0.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.05 | −0.10 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 7.6% | 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, 755 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, MOAT and QQQ hold 18% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
18% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
MOAT and QQQ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
MOAT and QQQ do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. MOAT follows Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index and QQQ follows Nasdaq-100 Index.
- Holdings in common. 18% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 MOAT returned +10.3% and QQQ +15.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.9 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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MOAT
MOAT tracks the Morningstar Wide Moat. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.3% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.46% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 54 positions, with the top ten at 26.5%. It sat 3.7% below its high of Aug 27, 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. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. 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
- Which returned more over the last year, MOAT or QQQ?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MOAT returned +10.3% and QQQ +15.2%.
- Which is cheaper, MOAT or QQQ?
- QQQ is cheaper, by 0.28 percentage points a year. That is about $28 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, MOAT against QQQ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/moat-vs-qqq
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). MOAT against QQQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/moat-vs-qqq
[MOAT against QQQ (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/moat-vs-qqq)
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