Which returned more over the last year, QDF or SPY?

In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QDF returned +17.4% and SPY +17.3%.

Which is cheaper, QDF or SPY?

SPY is cheaper, by 0.30 percentage points a year. That is about $30 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do QDF and SPY overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 86% of QDF and 100% of SPY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

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QDF vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees

QDF and SPY hold 38% of their weight in the same names. Net assets: $2.2bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Northern Trust Quality Dividend ETF, and $817.2bn on Oct 8, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

SPY costs 0.30 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.1 points; SPY is far larger, $795.3bn against $2.2bn.

QDF vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
	QDF	SPY
Expense ratio	0.39%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Jul 31, 2026	$2.2bn	$795.3bn
Total return, 1 year	+17.4%	+17.3%
What it tracks	Northern Trust Quality Dividend Index	S&P 500 Index
Holdings in common	38%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	39.4%	39.1%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.

+17.4%

QDF total return, 1 year

+17.3%

SPY total return, 1 year

0.39%

QDF expense ratio

0.09%

SPY expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, QDF and SPY hold 38% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.

50%

half

38% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding QDF SPY

Apple, Inc. 8.67% 7.42%

NVIDIA Corp. 6.33% 8.34%

Microsoft Corp. 3.97% 5.80%

Broadcom, Inc. 4.01% 2.56%

Alphabet, Inc. 2.40% 3.06%

Alphabet, Inc. 1.95% 2.45%

JPMorgan Chase & Co. 2.56% 1.32%

Johnson & Johnson 2.81% 0.92%

AbbVie, Inc. 2.94% 0.72%

Eli Lilly & Co. 0.71% 1.40%

Cisco Systems, Inc. 2.96% 0.68%

Lam Research Corp. 2.57% 0.60%

Only in QDF

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. 0.63%

Bath & Body Works, Inc. 0.60%

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. 0.60%

H&R Block, Inc. 0.56%

Electronic Arts, Inc. 0.56%

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. (The) 0.55%

Corebridge Financial, Inc. 0.55%

East West Bancorp, Inc. 0.53%

Only in SPY

AMAZON.COM INC 3.73%

META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A 2.38%

MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC 1.75%

TESLA INC 1.58%

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 1.51%

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CL B 1.42%

INTEL CORP 0.80%

WALMART INC 0.74%

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On the same fields

QDF

Northern Trust Quality Dividend ETF

SPY

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer Northern Trust State Street

What it is Tracks an index Tracks the S&P 500

Total return, 1 year +17.4% +17.3%

Its benchmark over the same days not published +17.3% (VOO)

Gap to its benchmark not available −0.1 pts vs VOO

Expense ratio 0.39% 0.09%

Already in the S&P 500 85.9% 99.8%

Holdings 123 504

Net assets, QDF as of Jul 31, 2026 and SPY as of Oct 8, 2026 $2.2bn $817.2bn

QDF and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

About QDF

QDF tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +17.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.39% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 86% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 123 positions, with the top ten at 39.4%.

About SPY

SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +17.3% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 39.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, QDF or SPY?: In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QDF returned +17.4% and SPY +17.3%.
Which is cheaper, QDF or SPY?: SPY is cheaper, by 0.30 percentage points a year. That is about $30 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do QDF and SPY overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 86% of QDF and 100% of SPY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IVV vs QDF QDF vs VTI QDF vs VOO QDF vs SPYM SPY vs TILT DFSU vs SPY SFLR vs SPY SPY vs TMFC

QDF on its own →SPY on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

QDF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗QDF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗State Street website ↗

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, QDF against SPY, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qdf-vs-spy

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.