Looking for broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market? You should consider the FlexShares US Quality Large Cap ETF (QLC), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/23/2015.
The fund is sponsored by Flexshares. It has amassed assets over $482.91 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Why Large Cap Blend
Companies that fall in the large cap category tend to have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Considered a more stable option, large cap companies boast more predictable cash flows and are less volatile than their mid and small cap counterparts.
Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.
Costs
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.25%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1%.
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.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector--about 32.70% of the portfolio. Financials and Telecom round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Apple Inc Common Stock Usd 0.00001 (AAPL) accounts for about 6.75% of total assets, followed by Nvidia Corp Common Stock Usd 0.001 (NVDA) and Microsoft Corp Common Stock Usd 0.00000625 (MSFT).
The top 10 holdings account for about 34.52% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
QLC seeks to match the performance of the Northern Trust Quality Large Cap Index before fees and expenses. The Northern Trust Quality Large Cap Index is designed to measure the performance of a universe of large capitalization securities which demonstrate characteristics of better quality, attractive valuation and positive momentum.
The ETF has added roughly 1.86% so far this year and it's up approximately 14.37% in the last one year (as of 05/29/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $56.84 and $69.86.
The ETF has a beta of 0.99 and standard deviation of 17.59% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 166 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
FlexShares US Quality Large Cap 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, QLC 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 SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) track a similar index. While SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $602.83 billion in assets, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has $644.85 billion. SPY has an expense ratio of 0.09% 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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FlexShares US Quality Large Cap ETF (QLC): ETF Research Reports Apple Inc. (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY): ETF Research Reports Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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