Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QQQ vs SPHQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QQQ returned +15.2% to SPHQ's +14.1%; 23% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $483.0bn for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 and $18.7bn for Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPHQ costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.1 points; QQQ is far larger, $483.0bn against $18.7bn.
| Measure | QQQ | SPHQ |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +15.2% | +14.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | 6.4%, high on Jun 30, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Nasdaq-100 Index | S&P 500 Quality Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.18% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $483.0bn | $18.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 23% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 46.7% | 43.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 16, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,088 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: QQQ against QQQM, Oct 23, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026; SPHQ against IVV, Dec 16, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.
QQQ returned more: +1,883.5% to +599.2%. SPHQ swung less: 18.0% to 20.1%. QQQ fell slightly less at its worst: −51.4% to −56.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QQQ | SPHQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +1,883.5% | +599.2% | QQQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +15.3% | +9.7% | QQQ | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +1,594.1% | +432.7% | QQQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 20.1% | 18.0% | SPHQ | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 13.7% | 13.0% | SPHQ (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −51.4% | −56.9% | QQQ (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 100.4% | 91.6% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.2% | 97.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.94 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.85 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.72 | 0.51 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.06 | 0.70 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.145 | 0.097 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.30 | 0.17 | QQQ | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | QQQM | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | −0.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.58 | −0.31 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.2% | −3.5% to +2.5% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.10 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.4% | 7.1% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,088 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, QQQ and SPHQ hold 23% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
23% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
QQQ and SPHQ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QQQ and SPHQ do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. QQQ follows Nasdaq-100 Index and SPHQ follows S&P 500 Quality Index.
- Holdings in common. 23% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- Size. QQQ has $483.0bn in net assets and SPHQ $18.7bn (net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026); QQQ is 25.8 times larger.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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QQQ
QQQ 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 0.18% 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 103 positions, with the top ten at 46.7%. It sat 4.5% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
SPHQ
SPHQ tracks the S&P 500 Quality. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 102 positions, with the top ten at 43.3%. It sat 6.4% below its high of Jun 30, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QQQ or SPHQ?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QQQ returned +15.2% and SPHQ +14.1%.
- Which is cheaper, QQQ or SPHQ?
- SPHQ is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. 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.
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ETFIQ, QQQ against SPHQ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-sphq
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). QQQ against SPHQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-sphq
[QQQ against SPHQ (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-sphq)
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