Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QUAL vs SPYM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QUAL returned +13.1% to SPYM's +13.7%; 45% of their weight is in the same names.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about QUAL and SPYM
Net assets: $48.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF, and $185.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPYM costs 0.13 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.6 points; SPYM is 3.8 times larger.
| Measure | QUAL | SPYM |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.1% | +13.7% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index | S&P 500 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.02% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $48.3bn | $183.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 45% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 44.5% | 38.1% |
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; SPYM against IVV, Nov 25, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPYM returned slightly more: +465.4% to +444.7%. QUAL and SPYM swung about the same: 16.2% and 16.0%. QUAL and SPYM fell about the same at their worst: −31.4% and −31.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QUAL | SPYM | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +444.7% | +465.4% | SPYM (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +13.6% | +13.9% | SPYM (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +346.8% | +350.9% | Tie | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.2% | 16.0% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.2% | 11.0% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −31.4% | −31.8% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 98.8% | 94.1% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 98.8% | 96.9% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.97 | 0.96 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.95 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.75 | 0.78 | SPYM (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.09 | 1.12 | SPYM (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.126 | 0.106 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.43 | 0.44 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | MLRG | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.6% a year | +0.4% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.59 | 0.53 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +2.6% | −1.2% to +2.0% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.06 | 0.00 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.7% | 3.8% | 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 SPYM hold 45% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
45% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
QUAL and SPYM on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QUAL and SPYM are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. QUAL follows MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index and SPYM follows S&P 500 Index.
- Holdings in common. 45% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- Number of holdings. QUAL holds 119 positions and SPYM holds 506.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
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%.
SPYM
SPYM tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.02% 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 506 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or SPYM?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +13.1% and SPYM +13.7%.
- Which is cheaper, QUAL or SPYM?
- SPYM is cheaper, by 0.13 percentage points a year. That is about $13 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 SPYM, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-spym
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). QUAL against SPYM. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-spym
[QUAL against SPYM (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-spym)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.