QQQE vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
QQQE and QUAL hold 23% of their weight in the same names, and QQQE returned +19.2% over the year. Net assets: $1.5bn on Oct 8, 2026 for Direxion NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index ETF, and $49.0bn on Oct 9, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.
QUAL costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.1 points; QUAL is far larger, $48.8bn against $1.5bn.
| QQQE | QUAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 8, 2026 | $1.5bn | $48.8bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +19.2% | +17.1% |
| What it tracks | not read by ETFIQ | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index ? |
| Holdings in common | 23% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 12.4% | 45.8% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, QQQE and QUAL hold 23% 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
23% in common
On the same fields
QQQE and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QQQE in plain words
QQQE tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +19.2% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 87% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 103 positions, with the top ten at 12.4%.
QUAL in plain words
QUAL tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +17.1% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 119 positions, with the top ten at 45.8%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QQQE or QUAL?
- In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QQQE returned +19.2% and QUAL +17.1%.
- Which is cheaper, QQQE or QUAL?
- QUAL is cheaper, by 0.20 percentage points a year. That is about $20 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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.
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ETFIQ, QQQE against QUAL, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqqe-vs-qual
ETFIQ. (Oct 9, 2026). QQQE against QUAL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqqe-vs-qual
[QQQE against QUAL (ETFIQ, Oct 9, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqqe-vs-qual)
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