All-In on QQQ? These 3 ETFs Offer a Smarter Path to Growth

The broad trend of the stock market has been unarguably bullish over the past decade. However, pull backs or drastically elevated volatility can spook less experienced investors. The recent tariff policy announcements from President Trump injected uncertainty into multiple industrial sectors, causing a market selloff from people looking to lock in profits – just in […] The post All-In on QQQ? These 3 ETFs Offer a Smarter Path to Growth appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Apr 29, 2025 - 20:27

All-In on QQQ? These 3 ETFs Offer a Smarter Path to Growth

Key Points

The Invesco QQQ ETF tracks the Nasdaq 100-Index and has been a strong gain winner over the past several years, with a 5-year annualized return of 20.5%.
ETFs that track other indexes that have ballpark comparable growth rates might be worth consideration, since the NASDAQ has been so volatile of late and has considerable heavily weighted technology sector exposure.
Wells Fargo recently advised diversification and that the recent market dip was an “attractive entry point”, so purchasing QQQ as well as other growth ETFs might be a worthwhile step to take.
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The broad trend of the stock market has been unarguably bullish over the past decade. However, pull backs or drastically elevated volatility can spook less experienced investors. The recent tariff policy announcements from President Trump injected uncertainty into multiple industrial sectors, causing a market selloff from people looking to lock in profits – just in case – and those who genuinely believe that the tariffs will shrink the US economy, as a number of academic economists have suggested.

The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) has been a strong Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) growth winner for many investors. It has a 5-7ear annualized return of 20.51%, a cumulative 10 year rate of return of 421%, and has benefited from heavy weighting in the “Magnificent 7” tech stocks.

While QQQ has certainly demonstrated a sterling performance, it is not the only ETF to achieve those kinds of ballpark results. Wells Fargo’s analysts recently noted that the recent pullbacks in the market might represent “an attractive entry point”, but cautioned that a diversified portfolio approach would be the most prudent way to take advantage of the opportunity.

With that in mind, QQQ certainly may appear to be a worthwhile addition to a portfolio that may lack it. However, for those investors who already have gains in QQQ, there are other ETFs worthy of consideration with comparable track records and different index references to provide some diversification risk mitigation. For comparison’s sake, the details for QQQ and three other ETFs to keep an eye on are listed below (info is based on the market at the time of this writing).

Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ)

Invesco’s QQQ ETF has been a strong growth ETF with a loyal owner base.

Managed by Invesco Capital Management, QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index as its benchmark.

Dividend Yield	0.64%
Dividend Payment Frequency	Quarterly
52-week high	$540.81
52-week low	$402.39
Total Assets	$297.51 billion
Daily Trade Volume Average	47.789 million shares
Beta (5 year)	1.17
1-Year Return	6.21%
5-Year Return	20.51%
10-Year Return	16.99%
Cumulative 10-year return	421.00%
Inception Date	0.20%
Expense Ratio	3-10-1999

Top 5 Sector Weightings:

Technology: 50.78%
Communication Services: 15.91%
Consumer Cyclical: 13.29%
Consumer Defensive: 6.19%
Healthcare: 5.80%

The top 5 largest holdings include:

Apple – 9.40%
Microsoft – 7.86%
Nvidia – 7.45%
Amazon – 5.6*%
Broadcom – 3.66%

Vanguard Growth Index Fund ETF Shares (NYSE: VUG)

Investors looking for a combination of high growth with the lower risk of large cap stocks might wish to consider VUG for an ETF portfolio addition.

The Vanguard Growth Index Fund follows the CRSP US Large Cap Growth Index. In addition to being the #2 largest asset managers behind BlackRock, Vanguard is also a pioneer in ETFs.

Dividend Yield	0.52%
Dividend Payment Frequency	Quarterly
52-week high	$429.11
52-week low	$316.14
Total Assets	$260.76 billion
Daily Trade Volume Average	1.79 million shares
Beta (5 year)	1.19
1-Year Return	8.27%
5-Year Return	19.50%
10-Year Return	14.22%
Cumulative 10-year return	297.00%
Inception Date	1-26-2004
Expense Ratio	0.04%

Top 5 Sector Weightings:

Technology: 49.72%
Consumer Cyclical: 14.50%
Communication Services: 13.09%
Financial Services: 6.97%
Healthcare: 6.49%

The top 5 largest holdings include:

Apple – 12.42%
Microsoft – 10.29%
Nvidia – 9.20%
Amazon – 6.40%
Meta Platforms (Facebook): 4.34%

Schwab US Large-Cap Growth ETF (NYSE: SCHG)

Charles Schwab’s Large Cap Growth ETF, SCHG, outpaces QQQ’s 5-year return by 33 basis points.

Managed by discount brokerage pioneer Charles Schwab Investment, SCHG tracks the Dow Jones US Large-Cap Growth Total Stock Market Index.

Dividend Yield	0.45%
Dividend Payment Frequency	Quarterly
52-week high	$29.14
52-week low	$21.37
Total Assets	$34.84 billion
Daily Trade Volume Average	14.04 million shares
Beta (5 year)	1.16
1-Year Return	8.43%
5-Year Return	20.84%
10-Year Return	14.94%
Cumulative 10-year return	302.50%
Inception Date	12-11-2009
Expense Ratio	0.04%

Top 5 Sector Weightings:

Technology: 46.74%
Communication Services: 13.08%
Consumer Cyclical: 12.41%
Healthcare: 10.77%
Financial Services: 7.83%

The top 5 largest holdings include:

Apple – 11.00%
Microsoft – 9.46%
Nvidia – 9.03%
Amazon – 6.11%
Meta Platforms (Facebook) – 4.24%

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: VOO)

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF is a favorite of Warren Buffett and many FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) devotees. Tracking the S&P 500 Index. VOO has delivered sizable double digit growth for millions of portfolios over the past several years and is one the most widely held ETFs.

Dividend Yield	1.36%
Dividend Payment Frequency	Quarterly
52-week high	$563.92
52-week low	$442.80
Total Assets	$1.32 trillion
Daily Trade Volume Average	8.49 million shares
Beta (5 year)	1.00%
1-Year Return	8.22%
5-Year Return	18.55%
10-Year Return	12.46%
Cumulative 10-year return	223.62%
Inception Date	6-24-2016
Expense Ratio	0.03%

Top 5 Sector Weightings:

Technology – 31.03%
Financial Services – 14.15%
Healthcare – 11.20%
Consumer Cyclical – 10.36%
Communication Services – 9.34%

The top 5 largest holdings include:

Apple – 7.03%
Microsoft – 5.88%
Nvidia – 5.59%
Amazon – 3.78%
Meta Platforms (Facebook) – 2.66%

While the Magnificent 7 Tech stocks appear to dominate all of the growth oriented ETFs included, the other composition of the corresponding indexes differ somewhat. If the other underlying index stocks didn’t make a difference, then there would not be a 229 basis point differential between SCHG at 20.84% and VOO at 18.55% for their respective 50year annual returns.

A truly diverse portfolio might choose to sacrifice some growth for income safety, for example, or perhaps international exposure. Dividend focused ETFs can generate high cumulative returns in the form of income, but comparably lower market price appreciation than growth ETFs. International stock ETFs can sometimes offer even higher growth numbers, but their host nation’s stock markets can be subject to higher volatility and lower liquidity than in the US, which commensurately higher risk.

The post All-In on QQQ? These 3 ETFs Offer a Smarter Path to Growth appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..