Category Review
Cash-flow quality returned 42% while QUAL returned 17%
Fidelity Quality Factor ETF
$85.17+0.09 (+0.10%)
- 0.15%
- $1.4B
- +18.0%
- 1.14%
- 0M sh
- $85.10
- low $70.44high $85.56
The ETF.net FQAL Grade
A
Score 76 out of 100
- 3 of 26
Score 76 of 100 falls in the A band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.A86 out of 100Rank 3 of 26Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A88 out of 100Rank 4 of 19Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.A74 out of 100Rank 4 of 26Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.B57 out of 100Rank 9 of 26Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.C52 out of 100Rank 16 of 26Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A75 out of 100Rank 5 of 26
Our read on FQAL
AFidelity's own quality screen, boxed into an ETF: roughly 130 U.S. companies picked for profitability, steady cash flow and clean balance sheets, at 0.15% a year, well under the typical fee in the quality-factor group.
The fund prioritizes U.S. companies exhibiting higher profitability, stable cash flows, and strong balance sheets.
Why people hold it
- Costs 0.15% a year, roughly half the typical fee among quality-factor ETFs. That puts it in the cheapest tier of the group, alongside JQUA, VFQY and QUAL.
- The rulebook is Fidelity's own: the Fidelity U.S. Quality Factor Index, tracked tightly. One of the closer index implementations in its peer group.
- Live since 2016 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, so this is a settled product rather than a launch still finding its footing.
- The screen is explicit about what it wants: higher profitability, stable cash flows, strong balance sheets. No vague 'quality' hand-waving.
Worth knowing
- Roughly 130 stocks, not the whole market. A narrower bench means individual names and sector tilts carry more weight than in a total-market fund.
- Trading volume is light next to the category's biggest quality funds, which can show up as wider bid-ask spreads.
- Distributions come quarterly, but the screen hunts profitability and balance-sheet strength, not yield.
FQAL Holdings
- Stocks
- 138
- 40%
- NVDA
Sectors
- Technology39.6%
- Financials11.9%
- Health Care9.8%
- Communication9.2%
- Consumer Discretionary8.1%
- Industrials7.9%
- Consumer Staples4.4%
- Energy3.8%
- Real Estate1.9%
- Materials1.9%
- Utilities1.7%
Geography
- United States97.18%
- Singapore0.83%
- United Kingdom0.61%
- Puerto Rico0.52%
- Ireland0.46%
- Switzerland0.40%
FQAL Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
FQAL$11,801
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | FQAL |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +13.6% |
| 1 month | +2.0% |
| 3 months | +3.6% |
| 1 year | +18.0% |
| 3 years | +20.7% |
| 5 years | +12.6% |
| 10 years | +14.6% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | FQAL |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +13.6% | |
| 2025 | +16.9% | |
| 2024 | +21.9% | |
| 2023 | +24.2% | |
| 2022 | −19.7% | |
| 2021 | +32.1% | |
| 2020 | +16.2% |
FQAL in the news
FQAL Dividends
- 1.14%
- $0.97
- $0.24 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
FQAL Risk
- 11.2%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 1.34
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −25.5%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.95
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FQAL Cost
0.15%
FQAL0.15%
- The middle half of US Quality Index funds
- Median 0.39%
2 of the 26 US Quality Index funds charge less.
Other funds in US Quality Index
- AJQUAJPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor ETFExpense ratio 0.12%1 year return +24.8%
- AQUALiShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETFExpense ratio 0.15%1 year return +20.3%
- ASPHQInvesco S&P 500 Quality ETFExpense ratio 0.20%1 year return +19.7%
- AVFQYVanguard U.S. Quality Factor ETFExpense ratio 0.13%1 year return +20.5%
- BSEIQSEI QiM U.S. Large Cap Quality Active ETFExpense ratio 0.15%1 year return +13.4%