Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QCJA vs QQQM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QCJA returned +10.6% to QQQM's +15.2%, and QQQM charges 0.15% to QCJA's 0.90%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $78m for FT Vest Nasdaq-100 Conservative Buffer ETF - January and $110.4bn for Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF.
Pair scorecard
QQQM costs 0.75 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.6 points; QQQM is far larger, $110.4bn against $78m.
| Measure | QCJA | QQQM |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +10.6% | +15.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Index fall to the buffer | 14.4% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 8.7% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | QQQ | Nasdaq-100 Index |
| The outcome period | ||
| Buffer left, in index points | 20.0% of 20.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 79 | |
| Period ends | Jan 15, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.90% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $78m | $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 31, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 90 weekly returns · each against QQQQQQM returned more: +36.1% to +19.4%. QCJA swung less: 7.8% to 20.6%. QCJA fell less at its worst: −9.7% to −21.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QCJA | QQQM | QQQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +19.4% | +36.1% | QQQM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +10.8% | +19.5% | QQQM | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +19.4% | +34.9% | QQQM | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 7.8% | 20.6% | QCJA | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 5.2% | 13.4% | QCJA | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −9.7% | −21.2% | QCJA | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 24.0% | 99.7% | 100.0% | QQQM | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 40.7% | 99.8% | 100.0% | QCJA | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.35 | 0.99 | 1.00 | QCJA lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.88 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.84 | 0.77 | QCJA (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.26 | 1.19 | QCJA (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.187 | 0.161 | 0.159 | QCJA | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.12 | 0.92 | QCJA | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | QQQ | QQQ | QQQ | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.0% a year | +0.1% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.46 | 0.67 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −3.2% to +5.1% | −0.3% to +0.5% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.68 | 0.13 | QQQM | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 13.7% | 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, 90 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
QCJA and QQQM on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QCJA and QQQM do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. QCJA follows QQQ and QQQM follows Nasdaq-100 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 QCJA returned +10.6% and QQQM +15.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.6 points.
- Cost. QCJA charges 0.90% of assets a year and QQQM 0.15%, a gap of 0.75 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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QQQ had already risen past this fund's cap of +12.1% for the period on Oct 28, 2026, so in index terms there is no more upside to collect. The fund's own price can still drift up to about 2.5% as the period runs out.
The fund's price can fall 8.7% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, QQQ can fall 14.4% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 20.0% of the 20.0% buffer still sits below today's QQQ level. 79 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Jan 15, 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 QCJA and QQQM in the same category?
- QCJA 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, QCJA or QQQM?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QCJA returned +10.6% and QQQM +15.2%.
- Which is cheaper, QCJA or QQQM?
- QQQM is cheaper, by 0.75 percentage points a year. That is about $75 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, QCJA against QQQM, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qcja-vs-qqqm
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[QCJA against QQQM (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qcja-vs-qqqm)
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