AQEC vs QLTY: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

AQE Core ETF

AQECBCboe

GMO US Quality ETF

QLTYANYSE Arca

Overlap

38.0%by weight

Expense ratio

AQEC −0.01pt a year

AQEC0.49%QLTY0.50%

Avg volume · 30D

QLTY 16.2×the volume

AQEC24.8KQLTY402K

AQEC vs QLTY Performance

Dec 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

+1.2%AQEC+13.8%QLTY

Expense ratio: AQEC 0.49%, better; QLTY 0.50%
Fund size: AQEC $602M; QLTY $5.4B
1Y total return: AQEC No data; QLTY +17.4%
Yield (12M): AQEC No data; QLTY 0.65%
Holdings: AQEC 134; QLTY 47
Avg volume (30D): AQEC 24.8K sh; QLTY 402K sh, better
NAV per share: AQEC $25.92; QLTY $43.53
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for AQEC, QLTY, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	AQEC	QLTY
Cost30% weight	A75	A75
Mission25% weight	Not scored	A77
Risk15% weight	C40	B68Higher
Tradability15% weight	B67	A80Higher
Holdings10% weight	A85Higher	A75
Durability5% weight	B57	A89Higher

Rank among US Active Quality funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. AQEC and QLTY are both graded against the same 16 US Active Quality funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

US Active Quality⁠

Category · 16 funds

See all 16 ›

QLTY ranks 2nd and AQEC 3rd of 16 funds in the US Active Quality Category.

Rank 1ANPFENpf Core Equity EtfScore 79
Rank 2AQLTYGMO US Quality ETFScore 75
Rank 3BAQECAQE Core ETFScore 66
Rank 4BQIDXIndexperts Quality Earnings Focused ETFScore 64

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

AQECBAQE Core ETF

QLTYAGMO US Quality ETF

In short

AQEC No data

QLTY Most quality ETFs run a rules screen. QLTY hands the job to GMO's stock pickers, who buy US companies they judge high quality and chase plain total return. Active conviction, priced like it: 0.50% a year.

Stated mandate

AQEC No data

QLTY The Fund seeks total return. It is actively managed and invests primarily in equities of U.S. companies that GMO believes are high quality.

Why people hold it

AQEC No data

QLTY Actively managed, not index-tracking. GMO's team chooses the US companies it considers high quality, under a straightforward total-return mandate instead of a published factor formula.
GMO's read on quality leans toward wide moats and free cash flow, so the lineup can look meaningfully different from the index-built quality funds it sits beside.
Opened in 2023 and already a multi-billion-dollar fund with moderate daily trading and a quarterly distribution schedule.
The filings match the label: a standard 1940-Act fund holding US equities, screened on quality, no derivative wrapper or offshore complexity.

Worth knowing

AQEC No data

QLTY The 0.50% fee runs above the typical quality-cohort charge, and index-built rivals undercut it hard: QUAL at 0.15%, JQUA at 0.12%.
No index to fall back on. Everything rides on GMO's stock selection, and the ETF's own record only starts in 2023.
Mostly on that fee, it sits in the lower half of its US quality peer group even though it does the job its documents describe.

Full AQEC profile⁠

Full QLTY profile⁠

AQEC vs QLTY Holdings

How AQEC and QLTY differ

Overlap by weight

38.0%

Shared holdings make up 77.9% of QLTY and 46.2% of AQEC.

Level by level

Holdings28 in both38.0%
Sector11 Sectors85.4%
Countryby domicile92.1%
Asset classEquity100%

Sector

Sector weights in AQEC and QLTY, widest gap first
Sector	More in AQECMore in QLTY	AQEC	QLTY
Health Care	QLTY +10.5 points	13.1%	23.6%
Technology	QLTY +4.1 points	34.0%	38.1%
Industrials	AQEC +3.2 points	7.1%	3.9%
Financials	AQEC +2.6 points	10.7%	8.1%
Consumer Staples	AQEC +2.4 points	9.3%	6.9%
Communication	AQEC +2.1 points	14.0%	11.9%
Energy	AQEC +1.7 points	1.7%	0.0%
Consumer Discretionary	AQEC +1.5 points	8.5%	7.0%
Utilities	AQEC +0.5 points	0.5%	0.0%
Materials	AQEC +0.4 points	1.0%	0.6%
Real Estate	AQEC +0.2 points	0.2%	0.0%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in AQEC and QLTY, widest gap first
Country	More in AQECMore in QLTY	AQEC	QLTY
United States	QLTY +7.9 points	92.1%	100.0%
United Kingdom	AQEC +4.2 points	4.2%	0.0%
Switzerland	AQEC +1.6 points	1.6%	0.0%
Netherlands	AQEC +1.5 points	1.5%	0.0%
Denmark	AQEC +0.6 points	0.6%	0.0%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

AQEC36.2%
QLTY43.4%

Securities held

AQEC133
QLTY46

Asset class

AQEC: Equity
QLTY: Equity

Holdings

Only in AQEC105
In both28
Only in QLTY18

Only in AQEC

105 securities, 53.6% of AQEC by weight

Berkshire Hathaway Inc2.08%
Alphabet Inc1.75%
Tesla Inc1.48%
Micron Technology Inc1.26%
JPMorgan Chase & Co.1.22%
ExxonMobil Holdings Corp1.08%
RTX Corp1.07%
Walt Disney Co/The1.01%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc1.00%
Gartner Inc0.91%
Medtronic PLC0.90%
Starbucks Corp0.87%
General Dynamics Corp0.86%
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co0.85%
eBay Inc0.84%
Novartis AG0.81%
Universal Music Group NV0.81%
Roche Holding AG0.79%
British American Tobacco PLC0.78%
Warner Music Group Corp0.76%
Ryan Specialty Holdings Inc0.76%
Colgate-Palmolive Co0.75%
Otis Worldwide Corp0.75%
Estee Lauder Cos Inc/The0.75%
Honeywell Aerospace Inc0.75%
Diageo PLC0.75%
Intercontinental Exchange Inc0.75%
Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC0.74%
AbbVie Inc0.73%
Walmart Inc0.73%
Honeywell International Inc0.73%
Live Nation Entertainment Inc0.73%
Unilever PLC0.72%
Gsk PLC0.71%
Aon PLC0.70%
News Corp0.69%
TransUnion0.69%
Fox Corp0.68%
Zillow Group Inc0.67%
Haleon PLC0.66%
Airbnb Inc0.65%
Solventum Corp0.64%
ASML Holding NV0.62%
Costco Wholesale Corp0.62%
Novo Nordisk A/S0.62%
Chevron Corp0.61%
Kimberly-Clark Corp0.60%
Vylor Inc0.59%
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc0.57%
Palantir Technologies Inc0.56%

Only in QLTY

18 securities, 22.0% of QLTY by weight

Kla Corp2.25%
Aramark1.97%
Hilton Worldwide Holdings In1.88%
Synopsys Inc1.76%
The Cigna Group1.60%
Elevance Health Inc1.52%
Constellation Brands Inc A1.35%
Tjx Companies Inc1.25%
Roper Technologies Inc1.17%
Tradeweb Markets Inc Class A1.06%
Quest Diagnostics Inc1.04%
Martin Marietta Materials1.03%
Stryker Corp0.88%
Brown Forman Corp Class B0.82%
Moody’s Corp0.74%
Jack Henry & Associates Inc0.65%
State Str Instl Invt Tr0.56%
Ferguson Enterprises Inc0.53%

Weight gaps

All 28 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in AQEC and QLTY, widest gap first
Holding	More in AQECMore in QLTY	AQEC	QLTY
NVIDIA CorpNVDA	AQEC +4.35 points	7.25%	2.90%
Thermo Fisher Scientific IncTMO	QLTY +4.03 points	0.35%	4.38%
Texas Instruments IncTXN	QLTY +3.60 points	0.36%	3.96%
Apple IncAAPL	AQEC +3.39 points	7.77%	4.38%
Johnson & JohnsonJNJ	QLTY +2.84 points	1.60%	4.44%
Lam Research CorpLRCX	QLTY +2.81 points	0.36%	3.17%
Meta Platforms IncMETA	QLTY +2.27 points	1.74%	4.01%
Abbott LaboratoriesABT	QLTY +2.12 points	0.26%	2.38%
UnitedHealth Group IncUNH	QLTY +2.11 points	0.50%	2.61%
Microsoft CorpMSFT	QLTY +1.96 points	6.00%	7.96%
Netflix IncNFLX	QLTY +1.78 points	0.38%	2.16%
Mastercard IncMA	QLTY +1.68 points	0.72%	2.40%
US BancorpUSB	QLTY +1.64 points	0.13%	1.77%
Alphabet IncGOOGL	QLTY +1.42 points	2.77%	4.19%
Accenture PLCACN	QLTY +1.40 points	0.23%	1.63%
Eli Lilly & CoLLY	QLTY +1.36 points	1.57%	2.93%
Broadcom IncAVGO	QLTY +1.34 points	2.06%	3.40%
Ge AerospaceGE	QLTY +1.21 points	0.42%	1.63%
Coca-Cola Co/TheKO	QLTY +1.22 points	0.49%	1.71%
Salesforce IncCRM	QLTY +1.17 points	0.90%	2.07%
Merck & Co IncMRK	QLTY +1.05 points	0.51%	1.56%
Uber Technologies IncUBER	QLTY +0.89 points	0.19%	1.08%
Procter & Gamble Co/ThePG	QLTY +0.77 points	1.30%	2.07%
Visa IncV	QLTY +0.67 points	1.74%	2.41%
Amazon.com IncAMZN	QLTY +0.49 points	3.07%	3.56%
Home Depot Inc/TheHD	AQEC +0.28 points	1.17%	0.89%
Philip Morris International IncPM	AQEC +0.16 points	1.23%	1.07%
Intuitive Surgical IncISRG	QLTY +0.15 points	1.08%	1.23%

All 134 AQEC holdings⁠All QLTY holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

AQEC vs QLTY Cost

Overpaying QLTY vs AQEC

$187

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

AQEC 0.49%
$9,792
QLTY 0.50%
$9,979

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

AQEC 0.49%
QLTY 0.50%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	AQEC	QLTY	Overpaying
10	$883	$900	$17
20	$3,394	$3,460	$66
30	$9,792	$9,979	$187

Expense ratio

0.49%AQEC, cheaper
0.50%QLTY

AQEC0.49%QLTY0.50%

0.40%1.52%

Middle half of US Active Quality funds
Median 0.65%

AQEC 2nd cheapest of 16 funds

QLTY 4th cheapest of 16 funds

AQEC vs QLTY Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): AQEC No data; QLTY 0.65%
Payout (12M): AQEC No data; QLTY $0.28
Last payment: AQEC $0.05; QLTY $0.06
Ex-dividend: AQEC Sep 23, 2026; QLTY Sep 30, 2026
Paid on: AQEC Sep 24, 2026; QLTY Oct 1, 2026
Frequency: AQEC Quarterly; QLTY Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

AQECQuarterly · 4 paymentsAll AQEC payments⁠

QLTYQuarterly · 12 paymentsAll QLTY payments⁠

AQEC vs QLTY Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: AQEC No dataQLTY 11.9%since Dec 2023
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: AQEC No dataQLTY 1.27since Dec 2023
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: AQEC No dataQLTY −17.0%since Nov 2023
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: AQEC 0.51QLTY 0.98; Market = 1

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