QQH vs VGT

QQHFHCM Defender 100 Index ETF

VGTAVanguard Information Technology ETF

In short

QQH Tech exposure with a built-in escape hatch: QQH follows an in-house index that steps from fully invested to 70/30, then 40/60, then all cash as its trend signal breaks down. Rules-based market timing in an index wrapper, for 0.98%.

VGT Vanguard's technology sleeve, indexed since 2004: roughly 300 US tech stocks running from megacap giants down to small caps, for 0.09% a year. Broad coverage of the sector rather than just its household names.

Stated mandate

QQH The Fund seeks to generally track the HCM Defender 100 Index before fees and expenses. It invests at least 80% of net assets in index securities, while the index uses a proprietary trend-based allocation among technology equities and cash or cash equivalents.

VGT The fund seeks to track an index measuring the investment return of information technology stocks. It uses an indexing approach for large-, mid-, and small-capitalization U.S. technology companies and normally invests at least 80% of assets in target-index stocks.

Why people hold it

• QQH The de-risking ladder is written into the prospectus with hard numbers: 3.5% below the BuyLine signal moves the index to 70/30 equity/cash, 6.5% to 40/60, and 12% to all cash or cash equivalents.sec.govhowardcm.com
• Getting back in has a rule too: the index reinvests in equities only after the reference large-cap index closes above the signal for five straight sessions, so one green day does not flip it.howardcm.com
• No manager discretion to second-guess. The equity sleeve is the largest, most liquid US technology names, and the shift triggers live in the index methodology, not in a trading desk's judgment.howardcm.com
• Running since 2019, so the mechanism has been through real tech drawdowns rather than backtests alone.

• VGT Casts a wide net: about 300 US technology stocks across large, mid and small caps, not just the megacap names everyone already knows.vanguard.com
• Charges 0.09% a year, roughly a quarter of what the typical technology sector ETF asks.
• One of the largest and most actively traded sector funds around, and it has followed its index closely.
• Running since 2004 and among the strongest implementations in its technology peer group. Pays quarterly.

Worth knowing

• QQH At 0.98% it sits above the technology category median (25 funds measured), and far above plain tech trackers like XLK at 0.08% and VGT at 0.09%. The signal is what you are paying up for.
• The trigger watches a broad US large-cap index, not tech itself, so the move to cash can lag or sidestep a selloff that hits technology alone.sec.gov
• Defender describes a mechanism, not an outcome: between triggers the fund can be fully invested, and the index is built and maintained by HCM using a model it does not publish.howardcm.com

• VGT Weighted by market value, so the biggest platform companies drive most of the return. The small caps are along for the ride.
• One sector, one country: US technology only, which means bigger swings than a total market fund.
• If the last basis point matters, XLK and FTEC list at 0.08%.

Full QQH profile⁠

Full VGT profile⁠