QQQJ vs SCHM

QQQJBInvesco NASDAQ Next Gen 100 ETF

SCHMASchwab U.S. Mid-Cap ETF

In short

QQQJ Most mid-cap funds sort the market by size and stop there. QQQJ takes the Nasdaq's next tier instead: about 110 innovation-leaning U.S. mid caps from the Nasdaq Next Generation 100 Index, a growthier cut than the standard mid-cap blend.

SCHM The forgotten middle of the US market, for three basis points. SCHM has tracked the Dow Jones U.S. Mid-Cap Total Stock Market Index since 2011, holding roughly 500 companies at a fee nobody in the category undercuts.

Stated mandate

QQQJ The fund seeks exposure to innovative U.S. mid-cap companies through the Nasdaq Next Generation 100 Index.

SCHM The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Mid-Cap Total Stock Market Index.

Why people hold it

• QQQJ A different slice than the usual mid-cap fund: index-based exposure to innovative U.S. companies via the Nasdaq Next Generation 100 Index, roughly 110 names deep.invesco.com
• Costs 0.15% a year, right at the middle of its mid-cap peer group and a shade under IWR at 0.18%.
• It does what the label says. The fund stays tightly aligned with its stated index, and it is a billion-dollar-plus Invesco product that pays quarterly.

• SCHM 0.03% a year, 30 cents per $100. That ties VO for the lowest fee in the mid-cap group and runs well below the category's typical charge.schwabassetmanagement.com
• Pure index plumbing: no stock picking, no tilts. The fund has tracked its benchmark closely, which is the whole job description here.
• Roughly 500 mid-sized US companies, so no single name carries the fund. Broad enough to be a one-ticket middle slice.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund trading since 2011 and among the stronger builds in its peer group, with active daily volume and tight handling.

Worth knowing

• QQQJ About 110 Nasdaq-flavored holdings means a tighter, growthier basket than broad mid-cap funds that spread across several hundred stocks, with bigger swings to match.
• That 0.15% is five times what plain-vanilla mid-cap indexers charge (VO and SCHM sit at 0.03%). You are paying for the specific screen, not for size exposure.
• Launched in 2020, so its track record is short next to mid-cap staples with decades behind them, and it trades in moderate rather than heavy volume.

• SCHM Mid-caps swing harder than blue chips. This is full, undampened exposure to that middle tier, with nothing built in to soften rough stretches.
• Every provider draws the mid-cap line differently. The Dow Jones index here won't hold the same names as a Russell or Morningstar mid-cap fund, so overlap with what you own varies.
• Distributions land quarterly, and they're a byproduct of the index, not the point. This is a growth-of-capital vehicle, not an income one.

Full QQQJ profile⁠

Full SCHM profile⁠