Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QUAL vs XLG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QUAL returned +13.1% to XLG's +6.4%; 47% 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 $11.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF.
Pair scorecard
QUAL costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.7 points; QUAL is 4.1 times larger.
| Measure | QUAL | XLG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.1% | +6.4% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index | S&P 500 Top 50 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.20% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $48.3bn | $11.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 47% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 44.5% | 60.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 691 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: QUAL against MLRG, Jul 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026; XLG against IVV, May 20, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.
XLG returned more: +535.4% to +444.7%. QUAL and XLG swung about the same: 16.2% and 16.5%. XLG fell slightly less at its worst: −28.7% to −31.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QUAL | XLG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +444.7% | +535.4% | XLG | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +13.6% | +14.9% | XLG (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +346.8% | +420.9% | XLG | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.2% | 16.5% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.2% | 11.3% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −31.4% | −28.7% | XLG (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 98.8% | 97.7% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 98.8% | 98.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.97 | 0.95 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.95 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.75 | 0.81 | XLG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.09 | 1.19 | XLG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.126 | 0.108 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.43 | 0.52 | XLG | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | MLRG | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.6% a year | +0.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.59 | 0.68 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +2.6% | −1.0% to +2.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.06 | 0.02 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.7% | 3.8% | 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 XLG hold 47% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
47% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
QUAL and XLG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QUAL and XLG are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. QUAL follows MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index and XLG follows S&P 500 Top 50 Index.
- Holdings in common. 47% 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 XLG +6.4% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 6.7 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%.
XLG
XLG tracks the S&P 500 top 50. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +6.4% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.20% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 98% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 53 positions, with the top ten at 60.3%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or XLG?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +13.1% and XLG +6.4%.
- Which is cheaper, QUAL or XLG?
- QUAL is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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 XLG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-xlg
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