QOWZ vs SPHQ

QOWZCInvesco Nasdaq Free Cash Flow Achievers ETF

SPHQAInvesco S&P 500 Quality ETF

In short

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.

SPHQ Live since 2005, SPHQ is an elder statesman of quality investing: rank the S&P 500 on profitability, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength, hold the top 100, charge 0.15% net of a waiver through August 31, 2028.

Stated mandate

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.

SPHQ The fund seeks exposure to the S&P 500 Quality Index and normally invests at least 90% of assets in common stocks included in that index.

Why people hold it

• 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

• SPHQ 0.15% net of a waiver through August 31, 2028 (0.20% gross), below the median for quality factor funds and level with QUAL and FQAL at 0.15%.
• The rules are published and mechanical: score the S&P 500 on return on equity, accruals ratio and financial leverage ratio, take the top 100, weight by quality score times market cap.spglobal.com
• Universe discipline: candidates come only from the S&P 500, so every holding is an established large cap rather than a smaller name screened in from a broader pool.spglobal.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, pays quarterly, and has run since 2005. It sits in the stronger tier of quality factor ETFs.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• SPHQ About 100 stocks, weighted by quality score times market cap, so the biggest high-scorers carry real weight. Narrower than owning the full S&P 500.spglobal.com
• The index rebalances semiannually, so a company whose fundamentals slip mid-period stays in the portfolio until the next reshuffle.spglobal.com
• Two peers undercut it on fee: JQUA at 0.12% and VFQY at 0.13%.

Full QOWZ profile⁠

Full SPHQ profile⁠