Market outlook What’s new about QQQ?

Key takeaways

• QQQ continues to offer the same exposure to the Nasdaq-100® Index—now with a modernized structure and lower costs.
• The reclassification reduces QQQ’s expense ratio from 0.20% to 0.18%, resulting in lower fees for shareholders.
• The change adds greater transparency and flexibility without changing QQQ’s investment objective or tax treatment for investors.

For more than 25 years, Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) has given investors access to many of the world’s most innovative companies through one of the most recognizable exchange-traded funds in the market. Now, QQQ has been modernized—maintaining everything investors have long valued, while improving the fund’s structure for the future.

The same QQQ investors know

Nothing about QQQ’s core exposure is changing. It will continue to track the Nasdaq-100 Index, which includes the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The same investment team will remain in place, applying the same process and controls that investors have relied on for decades. QQQ’s objective, trading mechanics, and daily liquidity also remain the same.

What changed and why

QQQ was reclassified from its original unit investment trust (UIT) format to a more flexible open-ended ETF structure under the Investment Company Act of 1940. This modernization brings QQQ in line with most of today’s ETFs and is designed to enhance efficiency, flexibility, and transparency for shareholders.

Key benefits include:

• Lower expense ratio: QQQ’s total expense ratio will decrease from 0.20% to 0.18%, a 10% reduction.
• Expanded capabilities: The new structure allows the portfolio management team to reinvest income, use futures, and engage in securities lending—tools prohibited under the previous UIT format.
• Greater transparency: Investors will receive semi-annual reports, summary prospectuses, and increased Board oversight, strengthening accountability and disclosure.
• No tax impact: The reclassification did not trigger any taxable event for shareholders.

Importantly, these changes affect how QQQ operates—not what it owns. The modernization simply improves the fund’s mechanics while preserving its hallmark exposure to large-cap innovation leaders.

Why it matters for investors

Lower costs and modernized flexibility can help keep more of your investment working for you. By adopting a standard ETF framework, QQQ now aligns more closely with industry best practices—while retaining the liquidity, trading depth, and recognition that have made it a cornerstone of many portfolios.

Over the past decade, QQQ has historically outperformed the S&P 500® Index--widely seen as the representative benchmark for the U.S. stock market-delivering an annualized return of 20.30% (NAV) versus 15.27% for the S&P 500.¹ This long-term record underscores how the fund’s focus on innovative, market-leading companies has contributed to growth over time.

Standardized Performance - Performance data quoted represents past performance, which is not a guarantee of future results. Investment returns and principal value will fluctuate, and shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be higher or lower than performance data quoted. Fund performance shown at NAV. Invesco total expense ratio is 0.18%

A modern structure for today’s market

Innovation has always defined the Nasdaq-100—and by extension, QQQ. This structural enhancement helps the fund evolve alongside the companies it tracks, remaining efficient, transparent, and cost effective for investors seeking exposure to the market’s growth engine.

Bottom line: QQQ still provides the same access to the Nasdaq-100 Index that investors have relied on for decades—now with lower costs, greater flexibility, and the same experienced team behind it.