Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QUAL vs SPYG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QUAL returned +13.1% to SPYG's +12.2%; 44% 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 $55.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPYG costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.9 points; SPYG is 1.1 times larger.
| Measure | QUAL | SPYG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.1% | +12.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.1%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index | S&P 500 Growth Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.04% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $48.3bn | $55.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 44% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 44.5% | 59.6% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 691 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: QUAL against MLRG, Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026; SPYG against IVW, Oct 13, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPYG returned more: +620.1% to +444.7%. QUAL swung slightly less: 16.2% to 17.9%. QUAL and SPYG fell about the same at their worst: −31.4% and −31.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QUAL | SPYG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +444.7% | +620.1% | SPYG | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +13.6% | +16.0% | SPYG | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +346.8% | +516.6% | SPYG | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.2% | 17.9% | QUAL (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.2% | 12.1% | QUAL (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −31.4% | −31.9% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 98.8% | 104.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 98.8% | 103.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.97 | 1.05 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.95 | 0.92 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.75 | 0.81 | SPYG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.09 | 1.20 | SPYG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.126 | 0.074 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.43 | 0.50 | SPYG | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | MLRG | IVW | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.6% a year | −1.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.59 | −1.00 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +2.6% | −3.2% to +1.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.06 | −0.11 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.7% | 5.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
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 SPYG hold 44% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
44% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
QUAL and SPYG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QUAL and SPYG do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. QUAL follows MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index and SPYG follows S&P 500 Growth Index.
- Holdings in common. 44% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- Cost. QUAL charges 0.15% of assets a year and SPYG 0.04%, a gap of 0.11 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%.
SPYG
SPYG tracks the S&P 500 Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.2% with distributions reinvested, against +12.1% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Growth Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 152 positions, with the top ten at 59.6%. It sat 4.1% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or SPYG?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +13.1% and SPYG +12.2%.
- Which is cheaper, QUAL or SPYG?
- SPYG is cheaper, by 0.11 percentage points a year. That is about $11 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, QUAL against SPYG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-spyg
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). QUAL against SPYG. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-spyg
[QUAL against SPYG (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-spyg)
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