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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +13.1% and USO +133.3%.

Which is cheaper, QUAL or USO?

QUAL is cheaper, by 0.71 percentage points a year. That is about $71 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

QUAL vs USO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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QUAL is an equity index fund and USO a commodity futures fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USO returned +133.3% against +13.1%.

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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $48.2bn for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF and $1.9bn for United States Oil Fund, LP.

QUAL on its own →USO on its own →

At a glance

+13.1%

QUAL total return, 1 year

+133.3%

USO total return, 1 year

0.15%

QUAL expense ratio

0.86%

USO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

QUAL costs 0.71 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 120.2 points; QUAL is far larger, $48.2bn against $1.9bn.

QUAL vs USO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	QUAL	USO
Return
Measure	QUAL	USO
Total return, 1 year	+13.1%	+133.3%
Drawdown
Measure	QUAL	USO
Below its high		82.3%, high on Jul 14, 2008
Benchmark
Measure	QUAL	USO
What it tracks	MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index	Oil futures
Cost and size
Measure	QUAL	USO
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.86%
Net assets	$48.2bn	$1.9bn
Holdings
Measure	QUAL	USO
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight	97%
Holdings dated	Oct 27, 2026
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	44.5%

Method

Side by side

QUAL iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF USO United States Oil Fund, LP

Where it sits Stock ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer iShares USCF

What it is Tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor Holds oil futures

Total return, 1 year +13.1% +133.3%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.6% (MLRG) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.5 pts vs MLRG not measured

Expense ratio 0.15% 0.86%

Holdings 119 not counted

Net assets $48.2bn $1.9bn

QUAL and USO 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%.

USO

USO holds oil futures. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +133.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.86% a year. It sat 82.3% below its high of Jul 14, 2008 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or USO?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +13.1% and USO +133.3%.
Which is cheaper, QUAL or USO?: QUAL is cheaper, by 0.71 percentage points a year. That is about $71 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

QUAL vs SIVR BWET vs QUAL QUAL vs SLV GLD vs QUAL DIA vs USO DYNF vs USO SCHX vs USO CGGR vs USO

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

QUAL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

QUAL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for QUAL ↗

USCF website ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, QUAL against USO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-uso

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