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Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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QUAL vs XLE: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QUAL returned +13.1% to XLE's +61.2%; 4% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $48.2bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF, and $45.2bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF.

QUAL on its own →XLE on its own →
At a glance
+13.1%
QUAL total return, 1 year
+61.2%
XLE total return, 1 year
0.15%
QUAL expense ratio
0.08%
XLE expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLE costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 48.1 points.

QUAL vs XLE: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureQUALXLE
Return
Total return, 1 year+13.1%+61.2%
Benchmark
What it tracksMSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality IndexEnergy Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.15%0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026$48.3bn$46.1bn
Holdings
Holdings in common4%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund44.5%78.1%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

4%

By the books each fund has filed, QUAL and XLE hold 4% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

0 half 100%

half

4% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first QUAL XLE
EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 2.50% 23.98%
EOG RESOURCES 0.34% 4.07%
SLB 0.31% 3.86%
DEVON ENERGY 0.19% 2.71%
HALLIBURTON 0.10% 1.43%
TEXAS PACIFIC LAND 0.10% 0.93%
EXPAND ENERGY 0.07% 1.05%
Only in one fund ↓
Only in QUAL
MICROSOFT 8.09%
APPLE 7.38%
NVIDIA 6.28%
META PLATFORMS CLASS A 4.06%
ELI LILLY 4.04%
TJX 3.50%
VISA CLASS A 3.44%
LAM RESEARCH 2.84%
Only in XLE
CHEVRON CORP 18.21%
CONOCOPHILLIPS 7.18%
MARATHON PETROLEUM CORP 4.67%
PHILLIPS 66 4.41%
VALERO ENERGY CORP 4.26%
WILLIAMS COS INC 4.22%
KINDER MORGAN INC 3.19%
TARGA RESOURCES CORP 3.12%
Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

QUAL iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF XLE State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
Issuer iShares State Street
What it is Tracks the MSCI USA Quality Factor Tracks an index of Energy
Total return, 1 year +13.1% +61.2%
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% 0.08%
Already in the S&P 500 97.2% 99.8%
Holdings 119 22
Net assets, QUAL as of Oct 28, 2026 and XLE as of Oct 27, 2026 $48.2bn $45.2bn

QUAL and XLE on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

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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%.

XLE

XLE tracks an index of Energy. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +61.2% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% 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 22 positions, with the top ten at 78.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or XLE?
In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +13.1% and XLE +61.2%.
Which is cheaper, QUAL or XLE?
XLE is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do QUAL and XLE overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 97% of QUAL and 100% of XLE by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Other comparisons
QUAL vs XOPQUAL vs VDEIYE vs QUALQUAL vs XLVVIG vs XLESPYM vs XLEXLE vs XLGVTI vs XLE
Where to next
QUAL on its own →XLE on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →QUAL dividend history →QUAL holdings →XLE dividend history →XLE holdings →Standards and sources →
Sources and dates
QUAL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗
QUAL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗
iShares page for QUAL ↗
XLE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗
XLE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗
State Street website ↗

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 XLE, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-xle

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