Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QUAL vs XLK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QUAL returned +13.1% to XLK's +27.1%; 33% 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 $125.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF.
Pair scorecard
XLK costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 14.0 points; XLK is 2.5 times larger.
| Measure | QUAL | XLK |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.1% | +27.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 5.4%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index | Technology Select Sector Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.08% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $48.3bn | $122.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 33% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 44.5% | 64.6% |
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; XLK against SPY, Dec 31, 1998 to Oct 23, 2026.
XLK returned more: +1,259.0% to +444.7%. QUAL swung less: 16.2% to 20.8%. QUAL fell slightly less at its worst: −31.4% to −32.6%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QUAL | XLK | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +444.7% | +1,259.0% | XLK | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +13.6% | +21.7% | XLK | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +346.8% | +1,054.9% | XLK | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.2% | 20.8% | QUAL | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.2% | 13.7% | QUAL | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −31.4% | −32.6% | QUAL (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 98.8% | 138.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 98.8% | 113.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.97 | 1.15 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.95 | 0.73 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.75 | 0.96 | XLK | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.09 | 1.45 | XLK | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.126 | 0.094 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.43 | 0.67 | XLK | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | MLRG | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.6% a year | +1.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.59 | 0.67 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +2.6% | −3.0% to +6.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.06 | 0.22 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.7% | 12.6% | 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 XLK hold 33% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
33% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
QUAL and XLK on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QUAL and XLK do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. QUAL follows MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality Index and XLK follows Technology Select Sector Index.
- Holdings in common. 33% 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 XLK +27.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 14.0 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%.
XLK
XLK tracks an index of Technology. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +27.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. 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 76 positions, with the top ten at 64.6%. It sat 5.4% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or XLK?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +13.1% and XLK +27.1%.
- Which is cheaper, QUAL or XLK?
- XLK 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.
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 XLK, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qual-vs-xlk
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