JQUA vs QFRD

JQUAAJPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor ETF

QFRDCPacer S&P 500 Quality FCF R&D Leaders ETF

In short

JQUA Quality investing without the quality price tag. JQUA screens U.S. companies for profitability and strong balance-sheet traits, and charges 0.12%, the lowest fee in the quality-factor group we track.

QFRD Most quality funds chase steady profits. QFRD screens S&P 500 names for free-cash-flow quality first, then keeps the 50 spending most heavily on R&D: cash-rich innovators in one rules-based basket.

Stated mandate

JQUA JQUA is designed to provide domestic equity exposure focused on companies with strong quality and profitability characteristics, using a rules-based approach intended to enhance returns.

QFRD The ETF seeks capital appreciation through a rules-based selection of 50 S&P 500 companies with high R&D expenditures and strong free-cash-flow quality. It also seeks to track the S&P 500 Quality FCF R&D Leaders Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• JQUA 0.12% a year, against a roughly 0.29% median for quality-factor funds, and it undercuts the bigger badges QUAL and FQAL at 0.15%.
• About 300 U.S. names selected on quality and profitability: a broad core-shaped sleeve, not a concentrated wager on a dozen balance sheets.
• Live since 2017 and now a multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund, so it has both a real track record and daily two-way flow.
• One of the stronger implementations in its peer group: it stays close to the JP Morgan US Quality Factor Index it follows while keeping costs at the bottom of the group.

• QFRD Two-step build: clear the free-cash-flow margin and FCF-return-on-capital bars, then rank on research spending. You are buying innovation budgets backed by real cash.paceretfs.comindexologyblog.com
• The R&D screen is what sets it apart in a quality cohort otherwise dominated by broad, low-cost giants like QUAL, JQUA and FQAL.paceretfs.com
• Rules-based and index-tracked, with about 50 S&P 500 members. No manager deciding which innovator looks exciting this quarter.

Worth knowing

• JQUA A quality screen is a tilt, not a shield. Owning profitable companies means owning less of everything else, and that gap cuts both ways.
• Trades actively, though it is not the most heavily traded fund on the quality-factor shelf, which matters more for large orders than small ones.
• Distributions land quarterly and fall out of what the screen owns. Income is a byproduct here, not the mandate.

• QFRD At 0.49% a year it sits at the expensive end of the quality-factor shelf, where the largest peers charge well under half that.
• It launched in 2026 as a small, lightly traded fund. That combination usually means wider bid-ask spreads, and there is little live record to judge.
• Fifty names ranked on R&D intensity is a concentrated slice of the S&P 500, so single stocks and single sectors move it more than a broad index.

Full JQUA profile⁠

Full QFRD profile⁠