Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PQOC vs QQQM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PQOC returned +12.1% to QQQM's +15.2%, and QQQM charges 0.15% to PQOC's 0.50%.
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Net assets: $30m on Oct 28, 2026 for PGIM Nasdaq-100 Buffer 12 ETF - October, and $110.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF.
Pair scorecard
QQQM costs 0.35 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.1 points; QQQM is far larger, $110.4bn against $29m.
| Measure | PQOC | QQQM |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.1% | +15.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | QQQ | Nasdaq-100 Index |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 22.0% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 10.1% of 12.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 337 | |
| Period ends | Sep 30, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.50% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $29m | $110.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 96% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 46.7% | |
Risk and return
Jan 10, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 93 weekly returns · each against QQQQQQM returned more: +40.1% to +26.6%. PQOC swung less: 10.8% to 20.4%. PQOC fell less at its worst: −12.5% to −21.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PQOC | QQQM | QQQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +26.6% | +40.1% | QQQM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +14.1% | +20.8% | QQQM | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +26.6% | +38.9% | QQQM | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 10.8% | 20.4% | PQOC | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 7.1% | 13.3% | PQOC | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −12.5% | −21.2% | PQOC | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 38.2% | 99.6% | 100.0% | QQQM | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 59.0% | 99.8% | 100.0% | PQOC | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.51 | 0.99 | 1.00 | PQOC lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.92 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.90 | 0.83 | PQOC (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.38 | 1.28 | PQOC (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.194 | 0.171 | 0.170 | PQOC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.13 | 0.98 | PQOC | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | QQQ | QQQ | QQQ | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.2% a year | +0.1% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.53 | 0.60 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −3.3% to +5.7% | −0.3% to +0.5% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.68 | 0.05 | QQQM | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 10.6% | 0.3% | 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, 93 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
PQOC and QQQM on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PQOC and QQQM do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. PQOC follows QQQ and QQQM follows Nasdaq-100 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 PQOC returned +12.1% and QQQM +15.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.1 points.
- Cost. PQOC charges 0.50% of assets a year and QQQM 0.15%, a gap of 0.35 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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PQOC
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 22.0% more before it reaches its cap. Protection left, in index points: 10.1% of the 12.0% buffer still sits below today's QQQ level. 337 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Sep 30, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
QQQM
QQQM 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 0.15% 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 105 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
- Are PQOC and QQQM in the same category?
- PQOC is a buffer ETF and QQQM is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, PQOC or QQQM?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PQOC returned +12.1% and QQQM +15.2%.
- Which is cheaper, PQOC or QQQM?
- QQQM is cheaper, by 0.35 percentage points a year. That is about $35 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, PQOC against QQQM, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pqoc-vs-qqqm
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). PQOC against QQQM. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pqoc-vs-qqqm
[PQOC against QQQM (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pqoc-vs-qqqm)
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