Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QUAL vs VLUE: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QUAL returned +13.1% to VLUE's +54.7%; 5% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $48.2bn for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF and $9.4bn for iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF.
Pair scorecard
Both cost 0.15% a year; their one-year returns differ by 41.6 points; QUAL is 5.1 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | QUAL | VLUE |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.1% | +54.7% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index | MSCI USA Enhanced Value Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.15% |
| Net assets | $48.2bn | $9.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 5% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 44.5% | 42.8% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 691 weekly returns · each against MLRGQUAL returned more: +444.7% to +390.9%. QUAL swung less: 16.2% to 18.4%. QUAL fell less at its worst: −31.4% to −37.5%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QUAL | VLUE | MLRG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +444.7% | +390.9% | QUAL | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +13.6% | +12.7% | QUAL (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +346.8% | +254.5% | QUAL | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 16.2% | 18.4% | QUAL | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 11.2% | 12.8% | QUAL | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −31.4% | −37.5% | QUAL | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 98.8% | 96.9% | 100.0% | Tie | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 98.8% | 99.0% | 100.0% | Tie | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.97 | 1.01 | 1.00 | QUAL lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.95 | 0.79 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.75 | 0.64 | QUAL | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.09 | 0.92 | QUAL | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.126 | 0.117 | 0.119 | QUAL (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.43 | 0.34 | QUAL | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | MLRG | MLRG | MLRG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.6% a year | −0.2% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.59 | −0.10 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +2.6% | −4.8% to +4.3% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.06 | −0.02 | QUAL | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.7% | 8.4% | 0.0% | 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 VLUE hold 5% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
5% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
QUAL and VLUE on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QUAL and VLUE do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. QUAL follows MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index and VLUE follows MSCI USA Enhanced Value Index.
- Holdings in common. 5% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 QUAL returned +13.1% and VLUE +54.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 41.6 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%.
VLUE
VLUE tracks the MSCI USA Value Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +54.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. 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 148 positions, with the top ten at 42.8%.
Questions people ask
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 VLUE, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-vlue
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