QUAL vs TSPA: Differences, Returns & Fees
QUAL and TSPA hold 39% of their weight in the same names. Net assets on Oct 9, 2026: $49.0bn for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF and $4.7bn for T. Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research ETF.
QUAL costs 0.19 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.3 points; QUAL is 10.4 times larger.
| QUAL | TSPA | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.34% |
| Net assets | $49.0bn | $4.7bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +17.1% | +17.4% |
| What it tracks | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index ? | No index, actively managed |
| Holdings in common | 39% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 45.7% | 36.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, QUAL and TSPA hold 39% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.
half
39% in common
On the same fields
QUAL and TSPA on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
About QUAL
QUAL tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +17.1% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 9, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 119 positions, with the top ten at 45.7%.
About TSPA
TSPA is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +17.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.34% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 96% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 328 positions, with the top ten at 36.3%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or TSPA?
- In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +17.1% and TSPA +17.4%.
- Which is cheaper, QUAL or TSPA?
- QUAL is cheaper, by 0.19 percentage points a year. That is about $19 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. 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 TSPA, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-tspa
ETFIQ. (Oct 9, 2026). QUAL against TSPA. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-tspa
[QUAL against TSPA (ETFIQ, Oct 9, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-tspa)
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