FQAL vs VFQY: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

Fidelity Quality Factor ETF

FQALANYSE Arca

Vanguard U.S. Quality Factor ETF

VFQYACboe

Overlap

19.8%by weight

Expense ratio

VFQY −0.02pt a year

FQAL0.15%VFQY0.13%

Avg volume · 30D

FQAL 8.4×the volume

FQAL58.6KVFQY6.97K

5Y return · a year

FQAL +2.2pt

FQAL+10.9%VFQY+8.7%

FQAL vs VFQY Performance

Oct 29, 2021 – Oct 30, 2026

+67.7%FQAL+52.1%VFQY

Expense ratio: FQAL 0.15%; VFQY 0.13%, better
Fund size: FQAL $1.41B; VFQY $493M
1Y total return: FQAL +12.2%; VFQY +18.2%, better
Yield (12M): FQAL 1.16%, better; VFQY 1.01%
Holdings: FQAL 138; VFQY 474
Avg volume (30D): FQAL 58.6K sh, better; VFQY 6.97K sh
NAV per share: FQAL $83.39; VFQY $176.00
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for FQAL, VFQY, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	FQAL	VFQY
Cost30% weight	A84	A96Higher
Mission25% weight	A89Higher	B68
Risk15% weight	A70Higher	B56
Tradability15% weight	C54Higher	D29
Holdings10% weight	C52	A84Higher
Durability5% weight	A76	A76

Rank among US Quality Index funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. FQAL and VFQY are both graded against the same 26 US Quality Index funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

US Quality Index⁠

Category · 26 funds

See all 26 ›

FQAL ranks 3rd and VFQY 5th of 26 funds in the US Quality Index Category.

Rank 1AJQUAJPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor ETFScore 81
Rank 1AQUALiShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETFScore 81
Rank 3AFQALFidelity Quality Factor ETFScore 75
Rank 4ASPHQInvesco S&P 500 Quality ETFScore 74
Rank 5AVFQYVanguard U.S. Quality Factor ETFScore 70
Rank 6BXMHQInvesco S&P MidCap Quality ETFScore 67

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

FQALAFidelity Quality Factor ETF

VFQYAVanguard U.S. Quality Factor 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.

VFQY Vanguard's quality screen casts a wide net: it fishes the entire Russell 3000 for strong profits, sustainable earnings and clean balance sheets, and charges 0.13% for the work. Quality without the large-cap-only blinders.

Stated mandate

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

VFQY The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by primarily investing in U.S. common stocks selected for strong fundamentals, including profitability, sustainable earnings, and healthy balance sheets.

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.

VFQY At 0.13% a year it undercuts most of the quality-factor field and sits alongside the cheapest names in it (JQUA, QUAL, FQAL).
Starts from the Russell 3000 rather than a mega-cap list, so mid and smaller companies that clear the screens can make the cut. Roughly 400 stocks in the basket.vanguard.com
Quality is defined on several axes at once: profitability, sustainable earnings and healthy balance sheets, spelled out in the fund's own objective.vanguard.com
Running since 2018, it ranks among the stronger implementations in its quality-factor peer group. Distributions come quarterly.

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.

VFQY Trades lightly next to the category's household names, which can show up as wider bid-ask spreads when you go to buy or sell.
The wide net cuts both ways: mid and small-cap holdings can make it move differently from large-cap-only quality funds such as SPHQ.
This is an advertised factor screen, not the market. The portfolio is built to look different from a plain US index, and it does.

Full FQAL profile⁠

Full VFQY profile⁠

FQAL vs VFQY Holdings

How FQAL and VFQY differ

Overlap by weight

19.8%

Shared holdings make up 41.4% of FQAL and 29.0% of VFQY.

Level by level

Holdings43 in both19.8%
Sector11 Sectors74.8%
Asset classEquity100%
Countryby domicile99.6%

Sector

Sector weights in FQAL and VFQY, widest gap first
Sector	More in FQALMore in VFQY	FQAL	VFQY
Technology	FQAL +13.8 points	37.9%	24.1%
Industrials	VFQY +8.7 points	9.1%	17.8%
Financials	VFQY +8.2 points	11.9%	20.1%
Communication	FQAL +6.1 points	9.2%	3.1%
Consumer Discretionary	VFQY +4.7 points	8.4%	13.1%
Consumer Staples	VFQY +2.3 points	4.3%	6.6%
Utilities	FQAL +1.9 points	1.9%	0.0%
Real Estate	FQAL +1.9 points	1.9%	0.0%
Energy	FQAL +1.6 points	3.6%	2.0%
Materials	VFQY +1.4 points	2.0%	3.4%
Health Care	Same weight	9.8%	9.8%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in FQAL and VFQY, widest gap first
Country	More in FQALMore in VFQY	FQAL	VFQY
United States	VFQY +0.4 points	99.6%	100.0%
Switzerland	FQAL +0.4 points	0.4%	0.0%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

FQAL38.9%
VFQY13.2%

Securities held

FQAL135
VFQY472

Asset class

FQAL: Equity
VFQY: Equity

Holdings

Only in FQAL92
In both43
Only in VFQY429

Only in FQAL

92 securities, 55.0% of FQAL by weight

Microsoft Corp5.95%
Alphabet Inc Class A3.81%
Broadcom Inc2.71%
Micron Technology Inc2.11%
Palantir Technologies Inc1.43%
Mastercard Inc Class A1.35%
Exxonmobil Holdings Corp1.22%
Cisco Systems Inc1.16%
AbbVie Inc1.11%
Applied Materials Inc0.96%
Merck & Co Inc New0.89%
UnitedHealth Group Inc0.85%
Progressive Corp Ohio0.79%
Cme Group Inc Class A0.79%
Chevron Corp0.78%
Home Depot Inc0.77%
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc0.77%
Seagate Techn Holdings PLC0.75%
Philip Morris Intl Inc0.74%
Amgen Inc0.74%
Verisign Inc0.73%
Ge Aerospace0.70%
Moodys Corp0.70%
Msci Inc0.70%
Ge Vernova Inc0.61%
Mcdonalds Corp0.60%
East West Bancorp Inc0.60%
Union Pacific Corp0.58%
Mckesson Corp0.56%
Cullen Frost Bankers Inc0.56%
Marriott International Inc A0.54%
Zions Bancorp0.53%
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc0.53%
Axos Financial Inc0.52%
Hasbro Inc0.52%
Automatic Data Processing Inc0.50%
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co0.50%
Lowes Cos Inc0.50%
Altria Group Inc0.48%
Fair Isaac Corp0.48%
Mettler-Toledo Intl Inc0.47%
Conocophillips0.45%
Yum Brands Inc0.45%
O'reilly Automotive Inc0.45%
Parker Hannifin Corp0.45%
Autozone Inc0.44%
Illinois Tool Works Inc0.44%
Linde PLC0.43%
The Booking Holdings Inc0.43%
Colgate-Palmolive Co0.42%

Only in VFQY

429 securities, 70.8% of VFQY by weight

Western Digital Corp1.30%
Costco Wholesale Corp1.25%
Sandisk Corp1.20%
KLA Corp1.19%
Texas Instruments Inc1.18%
Spotify Technology SA1.15%
Southern Copper Corp1.09%
Intuit Inc0.98%
Walmart Inc0.90%
American Express Co0.89%
Cummins Inc0.73%
S&P Global Inc0.71%
Arista Networks Inc0.66%
Marathon Petroleum Corp0.63%
Target Corp0.54%
Johnson Controls International plc0.53%
NetApp Inc0.52%
Exelixis Inc0.49%
Best Buy Co Inc0.49%
Manhattan Associates Inc0.48%
Landstar System Inc0.47%
Medpace Holdings Inc0.44%
Chemed Corp0.44%
State Street Corp0.43%
MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc0.43%
Toro Co/The0.43%
Charles Schwab Corp/The0.43%
Docusign Inc0.42%
RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd0.42%
Dexcom Inc0.42%
Lockheed Martin Corp0.41%
Gartner Inc0.41%
Incyte Corp0.41%
Globe Life Inc0.41%
Ulta Beauty Inc0.40%
Allstate Corp/The0.40%
Insulet Corp0.38%
Rockwell Automation Inc0.38%
Expedia Group Inc0.38%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc0.38%
Ferguson Enterprises Inc0.38%
Illumina Inc0.38%
Pegasystems Inc0.37%
Autodesk Inc0.37%
UL Solutions Inc0.37%
Synchrony Financial0.36%
Primerica Inc0.35%
Northern Trust Corp0.34%
Rollins Inc0.33%
BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Inc0.33%

Weight gaps

All 43 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in FQAL and VFQY, widest gap first
Holding	More in FQALMore in VFQY	FQAL	VFQY
NVIDIA CorpNVDA	FQAL +7.43 points	7.54%	0.11%
Apple IncAAPL	FQAL +6.26 points	7.57%	1.31%
JPMorgan Chase & CoJPM	FQAL +1.50 points	1.78%	0.28%
Meta Platforms Inc Class AMETA	FQAL +1.36 points	2.03%	0.67%
Visa Inc Class AV	FQAL +1.33 points	1.55%	0.22%
3M CoMMM	VFQY +0.88 points	0.44%	1.32%
Ross Stores IncROST	VFQY +0.84 points	0.44%	1.28%
Cintas CorpCTAS	VFQY +0.82 points	0.48%	1.30%
Fortinet IncFTNT	VFQY +0.79 points	0.70%	1.49%
Gilead Sciences IncGILD	VFQY +0.79 points	0.72%	1.51%
Newmont CorpNEM	VFQY +0.78 points	0.28%	1.06%
Trane Technologies PLCTT	VFQY +0.76 points	0.42%	1.18%
Eli Lilly & CoLLY	FQAL +0.74 points	1.86%	1.12%
Tjx Companies Inc NewTJX	VFQY +0.61 points	0.54%	1.15%
Kinsale Capital Group IncKNSL	FQAL +0.55 points	0.57%	0.02%
Valero Energy CorpVLO	VFQY +0.53 points	0.37%	0.90%
Vertiv Holdings CoVRT	VFQY +0.49 points	0.42%	0.91%
Johnson & JohnsonJNJ	FQAL +0.44 points	1.27%	0.83%
Adobe IncADBE	VFQY +0.37 points	0.76%	1.13%
Travelers Companies IncTRV	VFQY +0.36 points	0.70%	1.06%
Lam Research CorpLRCX	VFQY +0.32 points	0.95%	1.27%
Netflix IncNFLX	VFQY +0.30 points	0.48%	0.78%
Popular IncBPOP	FQAL +0.29 points	0.53%	0.24%
Expeditors Intl of Wash IncEXPD	FQAL +0.28 points	0.43%	0.15%
Monster Beverage CorpMNST	FQAL +0.27 points	0.36%	0.09%
Airbnb Inc Class AABNB	VFQY +0.27 points	0.50%	0.77%
Qualcomm IncQCOM	FQAL +0.25 points	1.02%	0.77%
Ameriprise Financial IncAMP	FQAL +0.23 points	0.57%	0.34%
Paychex IncPAYX	FQAL +0.20 points	0.35%	0.15%
Caterpillar IncCAT	FQAL +0.13 points	0.64%	0.51%
Apa CorpAPA	VFQY +0.13 points	0.26%	0.39%
Paycom Software IncPAYC	FQAL +0.11 points	0.43%	0.32%
Ww Grainger IncGWW	FQAL +0.04 points	0.45%	0.41%
Hershey Co (The)HSY	FQAL +0.04 points	0.27%	0.23%
Reddit Inc ARDDT	VFQY +0.03 points	0.17%	0.20%
Comfort Systems Usa IncFIX	FQAL +0.03 points	0.31%	0.28%
Procter & Gamble CoPG	VFQY +0.03 points	0.80%	0.83%
Coca Cola CoKO	VFQY +0.02 points	0.80%	0.82%
Idexx Labs IncIDXX	FQAL +0.02 points	0.40%	0.38%
Cf Industries Holdings IncCF	VFQY +0.01 points	0.14%	0.15%
Fastenal CoFAST	VFQY +0.01 points	0.43%	0.44%
Technipfmc PLCFTI	VFQY +0.01 points	0.19%	0.20%
Williams-Sonoma IncWSM	Same weight	0.42%	0.42%

All 130 FQAL holdings⁠All 403 VFQY 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.

FQAL vs VFQY Cost

Overpaying FQAL vs VFQY

$411

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

FQAL 0.15%
$3,137
VFQY 0.13%
$2,726

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

FQAL 0.15%
VFQY 0.13%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	FQAL	VFQY	Overpaying
10	$274	$238	$36
20	$1,071	$930	$141
30	$3,137	$2,726	$411

Expense ratio

0.15%FQAL
0.13%VFQY, cheaper

VFQY0.13%FQAL0.15%

0.12%0.60%

Middle half of US Quality Index funds
Median 0.39%

VFQY 2nd cheapest of 26 funds

FQAL 3rd cheapest of 26 funds

FQAL vs VFQY Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): FQAL 1.16%, better; VFQY 1.01%
Payout (12M): FQAL $0.97; VFQY $1.77
Last payment: FQAL $0.24; VFQY $0.38
Ex-dividend: FQAL Sep 18, 2026; VFQY Sep 23, 2026
Paid on: FQAL Sep 22, 2026; VFQY Sep 25, 2026
Frequency: FQAL Quarterly; VFQY Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

FQALQuarterly · 39 paymentsAll FQAL payments⁠

VFQYQuarterly · 34 paymentsAll VFQY payments⁠

FQAL vs VFQY Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

FQAL
VFQY

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: FQAL 11.0%, betterVFQY 13.1%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: FQAL 1.45, betterVFQY 1.07
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: FQAL −25.5%, betterVFQY −25.9%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: FQAL 0.95VFQY 0.98; Market = 1

FQAL and VFQY in the news

All news⁠

Category Review
Cash-flow quality returned 42% while QUAL returned 17%
Updated Sep 22, 2026FQAL

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FQAL vs VFQY

In short

Stated mandate

Why people hold it

Worth knowing

How FQAL and VFQY differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings

Only in FQAL

Only in VFQY

Weight gaps

Cost over time

Year by year

Distribution history

Fall from peak · 5 years

Risk facts

Cash-flow quality returned 42% while QUAL returned 17%

How FQAL and VFQY differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings

Only in FQAL

Only in VFQY

Weight gaps