Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QQQ vs XLG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QQQ returned +15.2% to XLG's +6.4%; 56% 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 $11.9bn for Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF.
Pair scorecard
QQQ costs 0.02 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.8 points; QQQ is far larger, $483.0bn against $11.9bn.
| Measure | QQQ | XLG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +15.2% | +6.4% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Nasdaq-100 Index | S&P 500 Top 50 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.18% | 0.20% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $483.0bn | $11.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 56% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 46.7% | 60.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 20, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,118 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: QQQ against QQQM, Oct 23, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026; XLG against IVV, May 20, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.
QQQ returned more: +2,097.3% to +882.5%. XLG swung less: 17.0% to 20.0%. QQQ and XLG fell about the same at their worst: −51.4% and −51.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QQQ | XLG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +2,097.3% | +882.5% | QQQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +15.5% | +11.2% | QQQ | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +1,770.4% | +572.4% | QQQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 20.0% | 17.0% | XLG | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 13.6% | 11.8% | XLG | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −51.4% | −51.7% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 100.4% | 97.7% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.2% | 98.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.95 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.73 | 0.61 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.07 | 0.87 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.145 | 0.108 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.30 | 0.22 | 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 | 0.68 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.2% | −1.0% to +2.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.10 | 0.02 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.4% | 3.8% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,118 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, QQQ and XLG hold 56% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
56% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
QQQ and XLG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QQQ and XLG do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. QQQ follows Nasdaq-100 Index and XLG follows S&P 500 Top 50 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 QQQ returned +15.2% and XLG +6.4% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 8.8 points.
- Size. QQQ has $483.0bn in net assets and XLG $11.9bn (net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026); QQQ is 40.6 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.
XLG
XLG tracks the S&P 500 top 50. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +6.4% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.20% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 98% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 53 positions, with the top ten at 60.3%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QQQ or XLG?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QQQ returned +15.2% and XLG +6.4%.
- Which is cheaper, QQQ or XLG?
- QQQ is cheaper, by 0.02 percentage points a year. That is about $2 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 XLG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-xlg
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