QTEC vs XLK: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund

QTECBNasdaq

State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF

XLKANYSE Arca

Overlap

39.7%by weight

Expense ratio

XLK −0.47pt a year

QTEC0.55%XLK0.08%

Avg volume · 30D

XLK 26.4×the volume

QTEC314KXLK8.28M

10Y return · a year

XLK +4.2pt

QTEC+19.5%XLK+23.7%

QTEC vs XLK Performance

Oct 29, 2021 – Oct 30, 2026

+73.1%QTEC+130.6%XLK

Expense ratio: QTEC 0.55%; XLK 0.08%, better
Fund size: QTEC $4.33B; XLK $125B
1Y total return: QTEC +21.1%, better; XLK +20.0%
Yield (12M): QTEC 0.01%; XLK 0.47%, better
Holdings: QTEC 48; XLK 78
Avg volume (30D): QTEC 314K sh; XLK 8.28M sh, better
NAV per share: QTEC $292.72; XLK $188.72
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for QTEC, XLK, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	QTEC	XLK
Cost30% weight	C40	A98Higher
Mission25% weight	C52	A76Higher
Risk15% weight	C42	B61Higher
Tradability15% weight	A84	A98Higher
Holdings10% weight	A81Higher	C41
Durability5% weight	B62	A82Higher

Rank among Technology (Broad) funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. QTEC and XLK are both graded against the same 23 Technology (Broad) funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

Technology (Broad)⁠

Category · 23 funds

See all 23 ›

XLK ranks 1st and QTEC 12th of 23 funds in the Technology (Broad) Category.

Rank 1AXLKState Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETFScore 82
Rank 2AFTECFidelity MSCI Information Technology Index ETFScore 78
Rank 11BIXNiShares Global Tech ETFScore 58
Rank 12BQTECFirst Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index FundScore 55
Rank 13CTDVProShares S&P Technology Dividend Aristocrats ETFScore 54

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

QTECBFirst Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector Index Fund

XLKAState Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF

In short

QTEC QTEC fishes in one pond: the technology names inside the Nasdaq-100, about 40 of them. Running since 2006, it is a narrower, Nasdaq-flavored cut of tech than the giant whole-sector funds.

XLK A 1998 original: XLK owns the technology slice of the S&P 500, about 70 names, for eight basis points. Big, heavily traded, and top-heavy by design, with quarterly caps the only brake on the giants at the top.

Stated mandate

QTEC The fund seeks to replicate, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Nasdaq-100 Technology Sector Index.

XLK The fund seeks to track the price and yield performance of the Technology Select Sector Index before expenses.

Why people hold it

QTEC About 40 tech names drawn from the Nasdaq-100 rather than the full sector roster. Concentrated on purpose, so individual holdings actually move the needle.
Tracks its index closely and trades with enough activity for routine orders, so you get the Nasdaq tech screen rather than a tracking science project.
Live since 2006, now a multi-billion-dollar fund, and sitting in the upper half of a crowded broad-tech ETF field. Not a fresh-launch experiment.

XLK Costs 0.08% a year against a roughly 0.40% median for broad tech funds, tying FTEC as the cheapest of the category's top-rated names and undercutting VGT's 0.09%.
One of the largest and most actively traded funds in the tech aisle, so entering or exiting rarely means fighting the order book.
Running since December 1998 and dead simple: the tech sector of the S&P 500, spanning software, semiconductors, hardware, communications equipment and IT services. Pays quarterly.ssga.com

Worth knowing

QTEC 0.55% a year, above the 0.40% typical for broad tech ETFs and well above XLK and FTEC at 0.08%. That is the toll for the narrower Nasdaq screen.
Roughly 40 stocks from a single index means single names and tech sentiment swing this harder than a several-hundred-name sector fund.
Distributions land only once or twice a year, so this reads as a growth-tilted equity holding, not an income stream.

XLK Top-heavy by construction. About 70 stocks, and the index only trims its biggest weights at quarterly rebalances to stay inside fund diversification limits.spglobal.com
The universe is S&P 500 tech only. Smaller tech companies outside the big index are out, and the Select Sector funds split the S&P 500 up, so some familiar names sit in other sector funds.ssga.com
It is one sector with no ballast from the rest of the market, so a tech drawdown lands here in full.

Full QTEC profile⁠

Full XLK profile⁠

QTEC vs XLK Holdings

How QTEC and XLK differ

Overlap by weight

39.7%

Shared holdings make up 82.0% of XLK and 73.1% of QTEC.

Level by level

Holdings33 in both39.7%
Sector5 Sectors85.5%
Countryby domicile91.2%
Asset classEquity100%

Sector

Sector weights in QTEC and XLK, widest gap first
Sector	More in QTECMore in XLK	QTEC	XLK
Technology	XLK +14.3 points	85.5%	99.9%
Communication	QTEC +9.0 points	9.0%	0.0%
Consumer Discretionary	QTEC +3.6 points	3.6%	0.0%
Industrials	QTEC +1.9 points	1.9%	0.0%
Energy	XLK +0.1 points	0.0%	0.1%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in QTEC and XLK, widest gap first
Country	More in QTECMore in XLK	QTEC	XLK
United States	XLK +8.5 points	90.8%	99.4%
Canada	QTEC +4.9 points	4.9%	0.0%
Netherlands	QTEC +2.2 points	2.2%	0.0%
China	QTEC +1.7 points	2.1%	0.4%
Mexico	XLK +0.2 points	0.0%	0.2%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

QTEC25.7%
XLK64.6%

Securities held

QTEC47
XLK76

Asset class

QTEC: Equity
XLK: Equity

Holdings

Only in QTEC14
In both33
Only in XLK43

Only in QTEC

14 securities, 26.9% of QTEC by weight

Thomson Reuters Corporation2.57%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A)2.50%
Shopify Inc. (Class A)2.49%
Strategy Incorporated (Class A)2.29%
PDD Holdings Inc. (ADR)2.18%
ASML Holding N.V. (New York Registry Shares)2.15%
Astera Labs, Inc.2.03%
Arm Holdings Plc1.98%
DoorDash, Inc. (Class A)1.80%
Nebius Group N.V.1.74%
Applovin Corp. (Class A)1.70%
CoreWeave, Inc. (Class A)1.50%
Alphabet Inc. (Class C)0.97%
Alphabet Inc. (Class A)0.96%

Only in XLK

43 securities, 17.9% of XLK by weight

Cisco Systems Inc2.51%
Intl Business Machines Corp1.43%
Oracle Corp1.42%
Amphenol Corp Class A1.19%
Arista Networks Inc1.13%
Salesforce Inc1.11%
Accenture PLC Class A0.89%
Dell Technologies C0.84%
Servicenow Inc0.67%
Corning Inc0.60%
Lumentum Holdings Inc0.48%
Motorola Solutions Inc0.48%
Hewlett Packard Enterprise0.46%
Te Connectivity PLC0.38%
Keysight Technologies In0.33%
Ciena Corp0.29%
Coherent Corp0.27%
Everpure Inc A0.27%
Netapp Inc0.25%
Flex Ltd0.20%
Teledyne Technologies Inc0.18%
Jabil Inc0.18%
On Semiconductor0.17%
Hp Inc0.17%
Cognizant Tech Solutions A0.17%
Qnity Electronics Inc0.15%
Twilio Inc A0.15%
Verisign Inc0.15%
Ptc Inc0.12%
Cdw Corp/De0.12%
F5 Inc0.12%
Skyworks Solutions Inc0.12%
Super Micro Computer Inc0.11%
First Solar Inc0.11%
Zebra Technologies Corp Class A0.10%
Fair Isaac Corp0.09%
Trimble Inc0.09%
Gen Digital Inc0.09%
Akamai Technologies Inc0.08%
Tyler Technologies Inc0.08%
Gartner Inc0.08%
Godaddy Inc Class A0.08%
Xak Technology DEC26<0.01%

Weight gaps

All 33 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in QTEC and XLK, widest gap first
Holding	More in QTECMore in XLK	QTEC	XLK
NVIDIA CorporationNVDA	XLK +12.82 points	2.16%	14.98%
Apple Inc.AAPL	XLK +12.23 points	2.53%	14.76%
Microsoft CorporationMSFT	XLK +9.01 points	2.40%	11.41%
Broadcom Inc.AVGO	XLK +2.71 points	2.05%	4.76%
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.AMD	XLK +2.35 points	2.50%	4.85%
Roper Technologies, Inc.ROP	QTEC +2.30 points	2.56%	0.26%
NXP Semiconductors N.V.NXPI	QTEC +2.30 points	2.69%	0.39%
Microchip Technology IncorporatedMCHP	QTEC +2.19 points	2.45%	0.26%
Workday, Inc. (Class A)WDAY	QTEC +2.10 points	2.33%	0.23%
Autodesk, Inc.ADSK	QTEC +1.95 points	2.25%	0.30%
Synopsys, Inc.SNPS	QTEC +1.93 points	2.48%	0.55%
Micron Technology, Inc.MU	XLK +1.91 points	2.15%	4.06%
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.MPWR	QTEC +1.88 points	2.23%	0.35%
Datadog, Inc. (Class A)DDOG	QTEC +1.79 points	2.31%	0.52%
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.CDNS	QTEC +1.70 points	2.25%	0.55%
Intuit Inc.INTU	QTEC +1.68 points	2.21%	0.53%
Teradyne, Inc.TER	QTEC +1.56 points	1.83%	0.27%
Analog Devices, Inc.ADI	QTEC +1.44 points	2.68%	1.24%
Adobe IncorporatedADBE	QTEC +1.41 points	1.99%	0.58%
Fortinet, Inc.FTNT	QTEC +1.35 points	1.85%	0.50%
QUALCOMM IncorporatedQCOM	QTEC +1.09 points	2.25%	1.16%
Western Digital CorporationWDC	QTEC +1.05 points	1.89%	0.84%
Marvell Technology, Inc.MRVL	QTEC +1.04 points	2.16%	1.12%
Texas Instruments IncorporatedTXN	QTEC +1.01 points	2.68%	1.67%
Intel CorporationINTC	XLK +0.97 points	1.71%	2.68%
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (Class A)CRWD	QTEC +0.96 points	2.52%	1.56%
Seagate Technology Holdings PlcSTX	QTEC +0.88 points	1.81%	0.93%
KLA CorporationKLAC	QTEC +0.82 points	2.10%	1.28%
Sandisk CorporationSNDK	QTEC +0.57 points	1.71%	1.14%
Palo Alto Networks, Inc.PANW	QTEC +0.41 points	2.23%	1.82%
Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A)PLTR	XLK +0.35 points	2.30%	2.65%
Lam Research CorporationLRCX	XLK +0.02 points	1.85%	1.87%
Applied Materials, Inc.AMAT	QTEC +0.02 points	1.98%	1.96%

All 47 QTEC holdings⁠All 75 XLK holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

QTEC vs XLK Cost

Overpaying QTEC vs XLK

$9,215

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

QTEC 0.55%
$10,904
XLK 0.08%
$1,689

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

QTEC 0.55%
XLK 0.08%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	QTEC	XLK	Overpaying
10	$988	$147	$841
20	$3,790	$575	$3,215
30	$10,904	$1,689	$9,215

Expense ratio

0.55%QTEC
0.08%XLK, cheaper

XLK0.08%QTEC0.55%

0.08%1.00%

Middle half of Technology (Broad) funds
Median 0.45%

XLK cheapest of 23 funds

QTEC 14th cheapest of 23 funds

QTEC vs XLK Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): QTEC 0.01%; XLK 0.47%, better
Payout (12M): QTEC $0.03; XLK $0.83
Last payment: QTEC $0.03; XLK $0.22
Ex-dividend: QTEC Jun 25, 2026; XLK Sep 21, 2026
Paid on: QTEC Jun 30, 2026; XLK Sep 23, 2026
Frequency: QTEC Irregular; XLK Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

QTECIrregular · 31 paymentsAll QTEC payments⁠

XLKQuarterly · 39 paymentsAll XLK payments⁠

QTEC vs XLK Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

QTEC
XLK

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: QTEC 26.6%XLK 23.6%, better
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: QTEC 0.90XLK 1.07, better
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: QTEC −45.5%XLK −33.6%, better
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: QTEC 1.43XLK 1.35; Market = 1

QTEC and XLK in the news

All news⁠

Closing Bell
S&P 500 falls 0.5% as tech losses outweigh oil’s 7% drop
7 hours agoXLK
Closing Bell
Chip woes drag Nazdaq, S&P 500 to worst day since June
Oct 30, 2026XLK
Closing Bell
Alphabet falls 12.6% - dragging SPY into negative territory for the day
Oct 29, 2026XLK
Closing Bell
Fed holds rates, stocks rise a third day as long yields climb
Oct 28, 2026XLK
Closing Bell
Boeing plummets 10.7%, but Chip stocks lift S&P 500 on Broadcom deal
Oct 27, 2026XLK
Closing Bell
Brazil ETF EWZ falls 19.8% as Lula win drives Ibovespa’s worst day since 2020
Oct 26, 2026XLK

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