Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QUAL vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QUAL returned +13.1% to SDY's +16.5%; 16% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $48.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF, and $21.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF.
Pair scorecard
QUAL costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.4 points; QUAL is 2.2 times larger.
| Measure | QUAL | SDY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.1% | +16.5% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index | S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.35% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $48.3bn | $22.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 16% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 44.5% | 20.4% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 691 weekly returnsQUAL returned more: +444.7% to +256.7%. SDY swung slightly less: 15.4% to 16.2%. QUAL fell slightly less at its worst: −31.4% to −32.4%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QUAL | SDY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +444.7% | +256.7% | QUAL | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +13.6% | +10.0% | QUAL | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +346.8% | +126.1% | QUAL | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.2% | 15.4% | SDY (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.2% | 10.8% | SDY (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −31.4% | −32.4% | QUAL (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.75 | 0.58 | QUAL | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.09 | 0.82 | QUAL | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.43 | 0.31 | QUAL | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 691 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, QUAL and SDY hold 16% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
16% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
QUAL and SDY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QUAL and SDY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. QUAL follows MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index and SDY follows S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index.
- Holdings in common. 16% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 QUAL returned +13.1% and SDY +16.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.4 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. 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%.
SDY
SDY tracks the S&P Dividend. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 84% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 156 positions, with the top ten at 20.4%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or SDY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +13.1% and SDY +16.5%.
- Which is cheaper, QUAL or SDY?
- 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.
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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, QUAL against SDY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-sdy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). QUAL against SDY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-sdy
[QUAL against SDY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-sdy)
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