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QLC vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees

QLC and SPY hold 56% of their weight in the same names, and QLC returned +19.8% over the year. Net assets: $1.0bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Northern Trust US Quality Large Cap ETF, and $817.2bn on Oct 8, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

SPY costs 0.16 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.5 points; SPY is far larger, $795.3bn against $1.0bn.

QLC vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
QLCSPY
Expense ratio0.25%0.09%
Net assets, as of Jul 31, 2026$1.0bn$795.3bn
Total return, 1 year+19.8%+17.3%
What it tracksNorthern Trust Quality Large Cap IndexS&P 500 Index
Holdings in common56%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund37.6%39.1%

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

+19.8%
QLC total return, 1 year
+17.3%
SPY total return, 1 year
0.25%
QLC expense ratio
0.09%
SPY expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, QLC and SPY hold 56% 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.

half

56% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding QLC SPY
Apple, Inc. 7.33% 7.42%
NVIDIA Corp. 7.10% 8.34%
Microsoft Corp. 4.25% 5.80%
Alphabet, Inc. 4.09% 3.06%
Amazon.com, Inc. 2.59% 3.73%
Broadcom, Inc. 2.94% 2.56%
Alphabet, Inc. 3.66% 2.45%
Meta Platforms, Inc. 1.40% 2.38%
JPMorgan Chase & Co. 1.98% 1.32%
Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. 1.27% 1.42%
Eli Lilly & Co. 1.12% 1.40%
Micron Technology, Inc. 1.09% 1.75%
Only in QLC
Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc. 0.63%
Royalty Pharma plc 0.46%
Spotify Technology SA 0.33%
Medpace Holdings, Inc. 0.31%
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. 0.24%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. 0.23%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. 0.21%
Paycom Software, Inc. 0.21%
Only in SPY
EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 1.04%
VISA INC CLASS A SHARES 0.96%
WALMART INC 0.74%
MASTERCARD INC A 0.69%
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP 0.63%
CHEVRON CORP 0.62%
COCA COLA CO/THE 0.51%
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC 0.50%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

QLC
Northern Trust US Quality Large Cap 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 +19.8% +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 0.25% 0.09%
Already in the S&P 500 96.4% 99.8%
Holdings 177 504
Net assets, QLC as of Jul 31, 2026 and SPY as of Oct 8, 2026 $1.0bn $817.2bn

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

About QLC

QLC tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +19.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.25% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 96% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 177 positions, with the top ten at 37.6%.

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, QLC or SPY?
In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QLC returned +19.8% and SPY +17.3%.
Which is cheaper, QLC or SPY?
SPY is cheaper, by 0.16 percentage points a year. That is about $16 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do QLC and SPY overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 96% of QLC and 100% of SPY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Other comparisons
IVV vs QLCQLC vs VTIQLC vs VOOQLC vs SPYMDSPY vs SPYSPHB vs SPYSPY vs VOTESPY vs STXF
QLC on its own →SPY on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →
Where these figures came from
QLC filings on SEC EDGAR ↗QLC 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, QLC against SPY, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qlc-vs-spy

Open data

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