Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
MTUM vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MTUM returned +18.4% to QUAL's +13.1%; 21% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $18.7bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF, and $48.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.
Pair scorecard
Both cost 0.15% a year; their one-year returns differ by 5.3 points; QUAL is 2.6 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | MTUM | QUAL |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +18.4% | +13.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 11.9%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI USA Momentum SR Variant Index | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $18.4bn | $48.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 21% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 35.5% | 44.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 691 weekly returns · each against MLRGMTUM returned more: +517.5% to +444.7%. QUAL swung less: 16.2% to 19.1%. MTUM and QUAL fell about the same at their worst: −31.9% and −31.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | MTUM | QUAL | MLRG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +517.5% | +444.7% | MTUM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +14.7% | +13.6% | MTUM (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +429.4% | +346.8% | MTUM | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 19.1% | 16.2% | QUAL | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 13.0% | 11.2% | QUAL | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −31.9% | −31.4% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 106.4% | 98.8% | 100.0% | MTUM (slight) | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 101.6% | 98.8% | 100.0% | QUAL (slight) | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 1.02 | 0.97 | 1.00 | QUAL lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.76 | 0.95 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.71 | 0.75 | QUAL (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.05 | 1.09 | QUAL (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.134 | 0.126 | 0.119 | MTUM (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.46 | 0.43 | MTUM (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | MLRG | MLRG | MLRG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.4% a year | +0.6% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.56 | 0.59 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −3.6% to +6.5% | −1.4% to +2.6% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.18 | 0.06 | MTUM | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 9.4% | 3.7% | 0.0% | 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, MTUM and QUAL hold 21% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
21% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
MTUM and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
MTUM and QUAL are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. MTUM follows MSCI USA Momentum SR Variant Index and QUAL follows MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index.
- Holdings in common. 21% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 MTUM returned +18.4% and QUAL +13.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.3 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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MTUM
MTUM tracks the MSCI USA Momentum Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.4% 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, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 126 positions, with the top ten at 35.5%. It sat 11.9% below its high of Jun 22, 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. 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
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, MTUM against QUAL, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mtum-vs-qual
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). MTUM against QUAL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mtum-vs-qual
[MTUM against QUAL (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mtum-vs-qual)
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