QUAL vs USMC: Differences, Returns & Fees
QUAL and USMC hold 39% of their weight in the same names, and QUAL returned +17.1% over the year. Net assets: $49.0bn on Oct 9, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF, and $5.2bn on Oct 8, 2026 for Principal U.S. Mega-Cap ETF.
USMC costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.3 points; QUAL is 9.4 times larger.
| QUAL | USMC | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.12% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 8, 2026 | $48.8bn | $5.2bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +17.1% | +14.8% |
| 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% | 54.3% |
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 USMC 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 USMC 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 USMC
USMC is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +14.8% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.12% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 26 positions, with the top ten at 54.3%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or USMC?
- In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +17.1% and USMC +14.8%.
- Which is cheaper, QUAL or USMC?
- USMC is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, QUAL against USMC, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-usmc
ETFIQ. (Oct 9, 2026). QUAL against USMC. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-usmc
[QUAL against USMC (ETFIQ, Oct 9, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-usmc)
Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.