ILCV vs QQEW

ILCVAiShares Morningstar Value ETF

QQEWCFirst Trust Nasdaq-100 Select Equal Weight ETF

In short

ILCV Value done the thorough way: roughly 400 large- and mid-cap US stocks screened on five separate value measures, not just cheap book value. Running since 2004 at four basis points, it's one of the cheapest tickets into the value factor.

QQEW Same Nasdaq-100 neighborhood, very different math: QQEW screens the names on a blended quality and growth score, then weights them roughly evenly, so a handful of megacaps don't run the whole portfolio.

Stated mandate

ILCV The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. large- and mid-cap stocks selected with value-oriented measures including forward earnings, book value, sales, cash flow, and dividend yield.

QQEW The Fund seeks to track the price and yield performance of the Nasdaq-100 Select Equal WeightTM Index before fees and expenses, normally investing at least 80% of net assets in index securities.

Why people hold it

• ILCV Charges 0.04% a year against a 0.32% median for its factor peer group. Undercuts well-regarded rivals like VONV (0.06%) and FNDX (0.25%).
• Value gets defined five ways: forward earnings, book value, sales, cash flow and dividend yield. Wider lens than a single price-to-book screen.ishares.com
• Spreads the bet across about 400 large- and mid-cap names and distributes quarterly.
• Trading since 2004 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, it ranks among the strongest implementations in its factor cohort.

• QQEW Equal weighting is the whole point. Each of the roughly 100 holdings gets a similar slice at rebalance, so the fund's path leans on the broad Nasdaq-100 field rather than its four or five biggest names.
• Not a blind equal-weight sleeve. The index picks its lineup using a Blended Quality and Growth Score, so the equal weighting is applied to a screened list, not the raw membership roll.ftportfolios.com
• Live since 2006, with billions in assets and quarterly distributions. This is a long-tenured fund that has traded through several full market cycles, not a recent thematic launch.
• The mandate is tight and testable: at least 80% of net assets in the securities of its named index, so what you see in the index rulebook is what drives the portfolio.

Worth knowing

• ILCV One of the quieter tickers in its category. Thin volume means spreads matter more here than on a mega-cap index fund, and limit orders are the usual tool.
• Value-only by design. It skips the market's priciest growth leaders, so it moves differently from a total-market fund in both directions.ishares.com
• Large and mid caps only. Small-cap value sits outside the mandate.

• QQEW Fees are the trade-off. At 0.55%, QQEW costs meaningfully more than the typical fund in its multifactor peer group, where broad names like VYM and IUSG run at a fraction of that.
• It trades lightly next to the household-name Nasdaq trackers, so bid-ask spreads can be wider, especially in fast markets or on large orders.
• Still a concentrated slice: roughly 100 companies from one exchange's large-cap index. Equal weighting spreads the bets inside that pool, it doesn't broaden the pool.

Full ILCV profile⁠

Full QQEW profile⁠