Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QQQM vs QUAL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QQQM returned +15.2% to QUAL's +13.1%; 40% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $110.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF, and $48.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.
Pair scorecard
Both cost 0.15% a year; their one-year returns differ by 2.1 points; QQQM is 2.3 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | QQQM | QUAL |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +15.2% | +13.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Nasdaq-100 Index | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $108.8bn | $48.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 40% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 46.7% | 44.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Oct 23, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026 · 313 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: QQQM against QQQ, Oct 23, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026; QUAL against MLRG, Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
QQQM returned more: +157.2% to +122.7%. QUAL swung less: 16.3% to 21.0%. QUAL fell less at its worst: −27.9% to −35.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QQQM | QUAL | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +157.2% | +122.7% | QQQM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +17.0% | +14.2% | QQQM | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +147.9% | +107.2% | QQQM | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 21.0% | 16.3% | QUAL | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 13.6% | 10.8% | QUAL | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −35.0% | −27.9% | QUAL | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.6% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.8% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.97 | 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 | 0.70 | 0.70 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.07 | 1.06 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.147 | 0.126 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.49 | 0.51 | QUAL (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | QQQ | MLRG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.1% a year | +0.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.62 | 0.59 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.2% to +0.4% | −1.4% to +2.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.10 | 0.06 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.4% | 3.7% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 313 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, QQQM and QUAL hold 40% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
40% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
QQQM and QUAL on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QQQM and QUAL do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. QQQM follows Nasdaq-100 Index and QUAL follows MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index.
- Holdings in common. 40% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 QQQM returned +15.2% and QUAL +13.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.1 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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QQQM
QQQM 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 0.15% 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 105 positions, with the top ten at 46.7%. It sat 4.5% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
QUAL
QUAL tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 119 positions, with the top ten at 44.5%.
Questions people ask
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How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, QQQM against QUAL, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqqm-vs-qual
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). QQQM against QUAL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqqm-vs-qual
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