Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
QQQ vs SHDG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, QQQ returned +12.3% to SHDG's +5.6%, and QQQ charges 0.18% to SHDG's 0.91%.
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Net assets: $464.6bn on Nov 3, 2026 for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1, and $161m on Jul 31, 2026 for Soundwatch Hedged Equity ETF.
Pair scorecard
QQQ costs 0.73 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.7 points.
| Measure | QQQ | SHDG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.3% | +5.6% |
| Total return, 52 weeks | +5.2% | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 8.9%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Nasdaq-100 Index | not published |
| Treasury bills, 52 weeks | +3.7% | |
| Against cash | 1.6 points ahead | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.18% | 0.91% |
| Net assets, QQQ as of Nov 3, 2026 and SHDG as of Jul 31, 2026 | $464.6bn | $161m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 94% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 46.7% | |
| Risk | ||
| Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns | +0.90 | |
| Beta to the S&P 500 | +0.60: about 0.60% for each 1% | |
| Its average week when the S&P 500 fell | fell 0.75% | |
| Down-week capture | 70.4% | |
| Weeks the S&P 500 fell | 26 of 52, by 1.07% on average | |
Side by side
QQQ and SHDG on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QQQ
QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 it returned +12.3% with distributions reinvested, against +12.3% for its benchmark, the Nasdaq-100 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Nov 3, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 103 positions, with the top ten at 46.7%. It sat 8.9% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Nov 4, 2026.
SHDG
SHDG is a hedged equity fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.90 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.60, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.60% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks SHDG fell 0.75% on average, a down-week capture of 70.4%. Over the same 52 weeks SHDG returned +5.2% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 1.6 percentage points ahead of cash.
Questions people ask
- Are QQQ and SHDG in the same category?
- QQQ is a stock ETF and SHDG is an alternatives ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, QQQ or SHDG?
- In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QQQ returned +12.3% and SHDG +5.6%.
- Which is cheaper, QQQ or SHDG?
- QQQ is cheaper, by 0.73 percentage points a year. That is about $73 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, QQQ against SHDG, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-shdg
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). QQQ against SHDG. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-shdg
[QQQ against SHDG (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-shdg)
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