FQAL vs QOWZ

FQALAFidelity Quality Factor ETF

QOWZCInvesco Nasdaq Free Cash Flow Achievers ETF

In short

FQAL Fidelity'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.

QOWZ Most growth funds rank stocks by how fast sales climb. QOWZ starts with cash, tracking a Nasdaq index that picks roughly 50 US companies on the free cash flow they actually generate. A quality filter wearing a growth label.

Stated mandate

FQAL The fund prioritizes U.S. companies exhibiting higher profitability, stable cash flows, and strong balance sheets.

QOWZ The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the Nasdaq US Free Cash Flow Achievers Index. It invests at least 90% of total assets in securities comprising that Index.

Why people hold it

• FQAL 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.

• QOWZ One rule, written down: track the Nasdaq US Free Cash Flow Achievers Index and keep at least 90% of assets in its components. No manager hunches.invesco.com
• Free cash flow is a hard number, not a story. Screening on it puts a quality test in front of the usual growth metrics.
• Concentrated by design at roughly 50 names, so the cash screen shows up in the portfolio instead of being diluted across hundreds of positions.
• Invesco launched it in December 2023 and billed it as a first-to-market strategy in its smart beta lineup. Distributions come quarterly.invesco.com

Worth knowing

• FQAL 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.

• QOWZ It charges 0.39% a year. Plain large-cap growth index funds like VUG and SCHG run 0.03% to 0.04%, so the screen carries a real cost to justify.
• One of the smaller, thinner-traded funds in the growth aisle, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads than the household-name trackers.
• Live only since late 2023, so its record is short next to the decades-old index funds sitting beside it on the shelf.

Full FQAL profile⁠

Full QOWZ profile⁠