NUGO vs QQQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
NUGO and QQQ hold 49% of their weight in the same names, and QQQ returned +17.9% over the year. Net assets: $2.4bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Nuveen Growth Opportunities ETF, and $484.7bn on Oct 20, 2026 for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1.
QQQ costs 0.32 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.3 points.
| NUGO | QQQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.50% | 0.18% |
| Net assets, NUGO as of Jul 31, 2026 and QQQ as of Oct 20, 2026 | $2.4bn | $484.7bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +7.6% | +17.9% |
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Nasdaq-100 Index |
| Holdings in common | 49% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 62.4% | 47.2% |
| Below its high | 6.0%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | 5.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 19, 2026.
NUGO and QQQ are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. NUGO follows No index, actively managed and QQQ follows Nasdaq-100 Index.
- Holdings in common. 49% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 19, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 20, 2026 NUGO returned +7.6% and QQQ +17.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 10.3 points.
Data as of Oct 20, 2026. The differences are picked by a fixed rule, in a fixed order; the PDF prints it. Page 2 has the returns, overlap, risks and sources.
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What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, NUGO and QQQ hold 49% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 19, 2026.
half
49% in common
On the same fields
NUGO and QQQ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 20, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
About NUGO
NUGO is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.50% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 98% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 44 positions, with the top ten at 62.4%. It sat 6.0% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 20, 2026.
Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +7.6% with distributions reinvested, against +4.0% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth Index.
About QQQ
QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100. Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +17.9% with distributions reinvested, against +18.0% 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 19, 2026, 96% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 103 positions, with the top ten at 47.2%. It sat 5.5% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 20, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, NUGO or QQQ?
- In the year to Oct 20, 2026, with distributions reinvested, NUGO returned +7.6% and QQQ +17.9%.
- Which is cheaper, NUGO or QQQ?
- QQQ is cheaper, by 0.32 percentage points a year. That is about $32 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. 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, NUGO against QQQ, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/nugo-vs-qqq
ETFIQ. (Oct 20, 2026). NUGO against QQQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/nugo-vs-qqq
[NUGO against QQQ (ETFIQ, Oct 20, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/nugo-vs-qqq)
Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.