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Is American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF (QGRO) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Growth category of the market, the American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF (QGRO - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 09/10/2018.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.
There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.
Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by American Century Investments. It has amassed assets over $1.75 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Growth. QGRO seeks to match the performance of the AMERICAN CENTURY U.S. QUALITY GROWTH IND before fees and expenses.
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
Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.29%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
QGRO's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.24%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 36.2% of the portfolio. Industrials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Booking Holdings Inc (BKNG) accounts for about 3.52% of total assets, followed by Meta Platforms Inc Class A (META) and Netflix Inc (NFLX).
QGRO's top 10 holdings account for about 27.32% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, QGRO has gained about 8.3%, and it's up approximately 22.13% in the last one year (as of 07/17/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $80.24 and $109.93.
QGRO has a beta of 1.10 and standard deviation of 20.20% for the trailing three-year period. With about 189 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
iShares Morningstar Growth ETF (ILCG) tracks MORNINGSTAR US LARGE-MID CP BRD GRWTH ID and the iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG) tracks S&P 900 Growth Index. iShares Morningstar Growth ETF has $2.8 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF has $23.75 billion. ILCG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IUSG changes 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?
Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Growth category of the market, the American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF (QGRO - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 09/10/2018.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.
There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.
Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by American Century Investments. It has amassed assets over $1.75 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Growth. QGRO seeks to match the performance of the AMERICAN CENTURY U.S. QUALITY GROWTH IND before fees and expenses.
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
Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.29%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
QGRO's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.24%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 36.2% of the portfolio. Industrials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Booking Holdings Inc (BKNG) accounts for about 3.52% of total assets, followed by Meta Platforms Inc Class A (META) and Netflix Inc (NFLX).
QGRO's top 10 holdings account for about 27.32% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, QGRO has gained about 8.3%, and it's up approximately 22.13% in the last one year (as of 07/17/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $80.24 and $109.93.
QGRO has a beta of 1.10 and standard deviation of 20.20% for the trailing three-year period. With about 189 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
iShares Morningstar Growth ETF (ILCG) tracks MORNINGSTAR US LARGE-MID CP BRD GRWTH ID and the iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG) tracks S&P 900 Growth Index. iShares Morningstar Growth ETF has $2.8 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF has $23.75 billion. ILCG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IUSG changes 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.