Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or SHY?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +13.1% and SHY +1.6%.

Which is cheaper, QUAL or SHY?

Neither: QUAL and SHY both charge 0.15% a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

QUAL vs SHY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QUAL returned +13.1% to SHY's +1.6%; 0% 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 $27.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF.

QUAL on its own →SHY on its own →

At a glance

+13.1%

QUAL total return, 1 year

+1.6%

SHY total return, 1 year

0.15%

QUAL expense ratio

0.15%

SHY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

Both cost 0.15% a year; their one-year returns differ by 11.5 points; QUAL is 1.8 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

QUAL vs SHY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	QUAL	SHY
Return
Measure	QUAL	SHY
Total return, 1 year	+13.1%	+1.6%
Benchmark
Measure	QUAL	SHY
What it tracks	MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index	ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index
Cost and size
Measure	QUAL	SHY
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026	$48.3bn	$27.3bn
Holdings
Measure	QUAL	SHY
Holdings in common	0%
In the S&P 500, by weight	97%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	44.5%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, QUAL and SHY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first QUAL SHY

Only in one fund ↓

Only in QUAL

MICROSOFT 8.09%

APPLE 7.38%

NVIDIA 6.28%

META PLATFORMS CLASS A 4.06%

ELI LILLY 4.04%

TJX 3.50%

VISA CLASS A 3.44%

LAM RESEARCH 2.84%

Only in SHY

TREASURY NOTE 2.11%

TREASURY NOTE 1.99%

TREASURY NOTE 1.83%

TREASURY NOTE 1.73%

TREASURY NOTE 1.62%

TREASURY NOTE 1.54%

TREASURY NOTE 1.51%

TREASURY NOTE 1.49%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

QUAL iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF SHY iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor Tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond

Total return, 1 year +13.1% +1.6%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.6% (MLRG) +1.7% (BBSB)

Gap to its benchmark −0.5 pts vs MLRG −0.1 pts vs BBSB

Expense ratio 0.15% 0.15%

Holdings 119 90

Net assets, QUAL as of Oct 28, 2026 and SHY as of Oct 27, 2026 $48.2bn $27.4bn

QUAL and SHY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

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%.

SHY

SHY tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.6% with distributions reinvested, against +1.7% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or SHY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +13.1% and SHY +1.6%.
Which is cheaper, QUAL or SHY?: Neither: QUAL and SHY both charge 0.15% a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

QUAL vs VGSH IEI vs QUAL QUAL vs SCHP BND vs QUAL CGGR vs SHY RDVY vs SHY SHY vs VIG AVUS vs SHY

Where to next

QUAL on its own →SHY on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →QUAL dividend history →QUAL holdings →SHY dividend history →SHY holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

QUAL and SHY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

QUAL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for QUAL ↗

SHY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for SHY ↗

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 SHY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-shy

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.