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Is American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF (QGRO) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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The American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF (QGRO - Free Report) made its debut on 09/10/2018, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Growth category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.
By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Because the fund has amassed over $1.12 billion, this makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Growth. QGRO is managed by American Century Investments. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the AMERICAN CENTURY U.S. QUALITY GROWTH IND.
The American Century U.S. Quality Growth Index seeks to select securities of large and mid-capitalization U.S. companies with attractive growth and quality fundamentals.
Cost & Other Expenses
For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.29% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
QGRO's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.27%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Representing 34.40% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Consumer Discretionary and Industrials round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, Netflix Inc Common Stock Usd.001 (NFLX - Free Report) accounts for about 3.92% of the fund's total assets, followed by Meta Platforms Inc Class A Common Stock Usd.000006 (META - Free Report) and Amazon.com Inc Common Stock Usd.01 (AMZN - Free Report) .
QGRO's top 10 holdings account for about 30.13% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, QGRO has lost about -7.05%, and is up roughly 12.41% in the last one year (as of 03/12/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $78.74 and $109.93.
QGRO has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 20.82% for the trailing three-year period. With about 201 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.
Fidelity Blue Chip Growth ETF (FBCG - Free Report) tracks ---------------------------------------- and the iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG - Free Report) tracks S&P 900 Growth Index. Fidelity Blue Chip Growth ETF has $3.62 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF has $19.16 billion. FBCG has an expense ratio of 0.59% and IUSG charges 0.04%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - All Cap Growth.
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.
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Is American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF (QGRO) a Strong ETF Right Now?
The American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF (QGRO - Free Report) made its debut on 09/10/2018, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Growth category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.
By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Because the fund has amassed over $1.12 billion, this makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Growth. QGRO is managed by American Century Investments. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the AMERICAN CENTURY U.S. QUALITY GROWTH IND.
The American Century U.S. Quality Growth Index seeks to select securities of large and mid-capitalization U.S. companies with attractive growth and quality fundamentals.
Cost & Other Expenses
For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.29% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
QGRO's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.27%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Representing 34.40% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Consumer Discretionary and Industrials round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, Netflix Inc Common Stock Usd.001 (NFLX - Free Report) accounts for about 3.92% of the fund's total assets, followed by Meta Platforms Inc Class A Common Stock Usd.000006 (META - Free Report) and Amazon.com Inc Common Stock Usd.01 (AMZN - Free Report) .
QGRO's top 10 holdings account for about 30.13% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, QGRO has lost about -7.05%, and is up roughly 12.41% in the last one year (as of 03/12/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $78.74 and $109.93.
QGRO has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 20.82% for the trailing three-year period. With about 201 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.
Fidelity Blue Chip Growth ETF (FBCG - Free Report) tracks ---------------------------------------- and the iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG - Free Report) tracks S&P 900 Growth Index. Fidelity Blue Chip Growth ETF has $3.62 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF has $19.16 billion. FBCG has an expense ratio of 0.59% and IUSG charges 0.04%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - All Cap Growth.
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.