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Should Fidelity Quality Factor ETF (FQAL) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market? You should consider the Fidelity Quality Factor ETF (FQAL - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on September 12, 2016.

The fund is sponsored by Fidelity. It has amassed assets over $1.14 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Blend

Large cap companies typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. They tend to be stable companies with predictable cash flows and are usually less volatile than mid and small cap companies.

Typically holding a combination of both growth and value stocks, blend ETFs also demonstrate qualities seen in value and growth investments.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.16%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.15%.

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 to the Information Technology sector -- about 34.9% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 7.96% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT).

The top 10 holdings account for about 38.41% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

FQAL seeks to match the performance of the Fidelity U.S. Quality Factor Index before fees and expenses. The Fidelity U.S. Quality Factor Index reflects the performance of stocks of large and mid-capitalization U.S. companies with a higher quality profile than the broader market.

The ETF has gained about 15.95% so far this year and was up about 12.67% in the last one year (as of 11/11/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $57.29 and $76.03.

The ETF has a beta of 0.97 and standard deviation of 14.36% for the trailing three-year period. With about 129 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Fidelity Quality Factor ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, FQAL is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) track a similar index. While iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $721.34 billion in assets, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has $800.00 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VOO charges 0.03%.

Bottom-Line

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

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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