Meet the BlackRock ETF Taking Aim at Invesco’s QQQ

BlackRock is taking a “Q” from the competition. 

Two Qs, rather. The company is preparing a new fund, the iShares Nasdaq 100 ETF (IQQ), which would compete directly with two similar funds from Invesco: the QQQ Trust and Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQM). It’s a particularly significant development, since Invesco has had a lock on the category for decades, due in part to Nasdaq’s extremely limited licensing of the index to ETF providers. 

“Invesco QQQ has been synonymous with innovation for over 25 years,” according to a statement from Invesco . “Creating a foundational ETF ecosystem does not happen overnight, and Invesco has always taken a long-term view on building and facilitating its development. There is only one QQQ.”

But Also, QQQM

The company’s two ETFs tracking the index highlight the importance of fees, something BlackRock is certainly considering as it readies its new fund (fees for IQQ were not included in the product’s initial filing). During the first two months of 2026, the $376 billion QQQ saw nearly $8 billion exit, per data from Morningstar Direct. Meanwhile, the $70 billion QQQM attracted $1.6 billion in net inflows, as well as $18 billion over 12 months, compared with $12 billion in net inflows for QQQ during that timeframe. Both ETFs track the same index, but QQQM offers a slightly lower fee, at 15 basis points versus 18.

There have also been some recent developments in Invesco’s product suite:

• QQQ successfully converted from a unit investment trust to an open-end fund, following a lengthy campaign to amass enough votes from shareholders. That resulted in the fund’s fee decreasing from 20 basis points to the current 18, along with Invesco gaining more latitude in using income from the fund for things other than marketing.
• The company last month launched the QQQ Equal Weight ETF (QEW), which gives each constituent stock a 1% allocation. The Nasdaq 100 includes the biggest companies on the exchange, excluding financial services.

Rocking the Boat. While BlackRock doesn’t already have a US-listed Nasdaq 100 ETF, it does have several that are domiciled elsewhere, including Canada, Hong Kong and Europe. The company also has US funds that could be used to build the same exposure: the iShares Nasdaq Top 30 Stocks ETF (QTOP) and iShares Nasdaq 100 ex Top 30 ETF (QNXT). The company did not comment on the new ETF filing, but said in a statement that the Nasdaq 100 has a history of “capturing companies shaping long-term growth.”

Nasdaq, in its own comments, referred to “a new select set of partners for ETF products in the US,” though it declined to say whether that includes companies beyond BlackRock. It also cited its ongoing relationship with Invesco and noted that “expanding access to the Nasdaq 100 is intended to be additive, supporting investors by improving the efficiency, liquidity and availability of benchmark-linked exposure across markets and product types.”