QLD vs. SSO: Tech Tilt Drives Bigger 1-Year Gains—and Deeper Risk

Overview

• Both ProShares ETFs target 2x the daily move of their benchmarks, with QLD tied to the Nasdaq-100 and SSO to the S&P 500.
• As of Feb. 2, 2026, QLD led one-year total return at 29.85% versus 23.67% for SSO, alongside a higher beta of 2.35 versus 2.03.
• Costs and income differ, with QLD’s 0.95% expense ratio and 0.17% yield compared with SSO’s 0.87% fee and 0.68% yield; AUM stands at about $11 billion for QLD and $8 billion for SSO.
• Portfolio makeup drives risk, with QLD concentrated in technology (53%) plus communication services (17%) and consumer cyclical (13%) across 101 holdings, while SSO spreads exposure across 503 S&P 500 names with lower tech weight (35%).
• Longer-horizon metrics underscore the trade-off, as five-year max drawdowns were -63.68% for QLD and -46.73% for SSO, and growth of $1,000 reached $2,403 and $2,601, respectively; both funds reset leverage daily, making them better suited to tactical use.