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Is American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF (QGRO) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF (QGRO - Free Report) debuted on 09/10/2018, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Growth category of the market.
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.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by American Century Investments, QGRO has amassed assets over $1.99 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Growth. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, 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 one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.20%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Representing 47.2% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Healthcare and Industrials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Apple Inc Common Stock Usd.00001 (AAPL) accounts for about 3.67% of total assets, followed by Mastercard Inc A Common Stock Usd.0001 (MA) and Alphabet Inc Cl A Common Stock Usd.001 (GOOGL).
The top 10 holdings account for about 29.2% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF return is roughly 3.78% so far this year and it's up approximately 6.98% in the last one year (as of 10/13/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $101.49 and $120.73
The ETF has a beta of 1.08 and standard deviation of 18.01% for the trailing three-year period. With about 190 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 MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF (GARP) tracks MSCI USA QUALITY GARP SELECT INDEX and the iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG) tracks S&P 900 Growth Index. iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF has $3.59 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF has $34.68 billion. GARP has an expense ratio of 0.15% 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?
A smart beta exchange traded fund, the American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF (QGRO - Free Report) debuted on 09/10/2018, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Growth category of the market.
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.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by American Century Investments, QGRO has amassed assets over $1.99 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Growth. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, 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 one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.20%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Representing 47.2% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Healthcare and Industrials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Apple Inc Common Stock Usd.00001 (AAPL) accounts for about 3.67% of total assets, followed by Mastercard Inc A Common Stock Usd.0001 (MA) and Alphabet Inc Cl A Common Stock Usd.001 (GOOGL).
The top 10 holdings account for about 29.2% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF return is roughly 3.78% so far this year and it's up approximately 6.98% in the last one year (as of 10/13/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $101.49 and $120.73
The ETF has a beta of 1.08 and standard deviation of 18.01% for the trailing three-year period. With about 190 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 MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF (GARP) tracks MSCI USA QUALITY GARP SELECT INDEX and the iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG) tracks S&P 900 Growth Index. iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF has $3.59 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF has $34.68 billion. GARP has an expense ratio of 0.15% 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.