Fidelity’s Broader Nasdaq ETF Has a Surprise for QQQ Investors: Even More Apple
Buying the entire Nasdaq instead of just the top 100 sounds like a safer, more diversified bet, but one stock quietly dominates both funds in a way that could catch retirees off guard.
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Most investors who want Nasdaq exposure reach for Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ), which had $490.1 billion in net assets as of June 30, 2026 and tracks the Nasdaq-100. Far fewer have heard of Fidelity Nasdaq Composite Index ETF (NASDAQ:ONEQ), which follows the entire Nasdaq Composite. Owning the whole exchange still leaves ONEQ more concentrated in one name: ONEQ leans harder on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) than QQQ does, and that matters if a single stock could swing your retirement savings.
Apple made up 10.08% of ONEQ’s net assets as of August 31, 2026. In QQQ’s most recent filing, dated June 30, 2026, Apple was 6.67%. Because those dates don’t match, we also checked ONEQ’s filing from May 31, 2026, one month before QQQ’s. Apple was 9.98% of ONEQ then. So ONEQ held a lot more Apple than QQQ in the filings on either side of QQQ’s reporting date.
Why a Broader Index Ends Up With More Apple
The Nasdaq Composite weights companies purely by market value. The Nasdaq-100 uses a modified market-cap method that reduces its biggest members when they get too large and transfers that weight to the rest of the top 100. Holding more companies doesn’t guarantee your money is spread more equally. As of August 31, ONEQ’s five largest companies (with Alphabet’s two share classes counted as one) made up 44.1% of the fund.
Where ONEQ Outshines QQQ
ONEQ owns far more companies. Its August filing listed 1,030 positions. QQQ holds only the 100 largest non-financial companies on the Nasdaq. ONEQ also owns smaller names QQQ leaves out, such as AAON (NASDAQ:AAON) and ADMA Biologics (NASDAQ:ADMA), each at a tiny fraction of 1% of assets. It holds banks, brokerages and exchange operators too, which the Nasdaq-100 excludes by rule.
QQQ has done somewhat better. As of October 29, ONEQ was up 12.76% year to date and 9.66% over one year. QQQ was up 14.75% and 10.87%. Over ten years, ONEQ gained 453.13% and QQQ gained 502.53%. QQQ’s figures use unadjusted prices and ONEQ’s use adjusted prices, so the gap may actually be a bit wider than these numbers show.
Why So Few Investors Know About ONEQ
Size feeds on itself. Because QQQ is so big, it trades heavily, has a deep options market and gets mentioned constantly in financial news. On October 29, QQQ traded 37,532,845 shares. ONEQ traded 291,503, so QQQ’s volume was roughly 129 times larger. ONEQ reported net assets of about $10.75 billion as of August 31. QQQ’s June 30 total was more than 45 times that. ONEQ mostly sits in buy-and-hold brokerage accounts and gets little attention from traders.
Risks to Weigh Before Choosing ONEQ
Concentration. With 44.1% of assets in five companies and Apple alone around a tenth of the fund, a bad stretch for Apple would hurt ONEQ more than QQQ. Retirees who already own Apple directly or through an S&P 500 fund may have more exposure than they realize.
Trading. Lightly traded ETFs can have wider spreads between the bid and ask prices, especially at the open and close. Invesco’s prospectus notes that when authorized participants step back, ETF shares can be “more likely to trade at a premium or discount to the Fund’s NAV”. That risk applies to every ETF, but it’s greater for a fund with ONEQ’s lower volume. Limit orders can help.
Closure. A sponsor can close any ETF it decides is no longer worth running. At roughly $10.75 billion, ONEQ is far from thin, but it’s still a small fraction of QQQ’s size. If it did close, holders would be cashed out, and that could trigger a capital gains bill in a taxable account.
Who ONEQ Fits and Who Should Stay With QQQ
ONEQ suits retirees who want one buy-and-hold Nasdaq fund that also includes smaller companies and financials, and who are comfortable with Apple at about a tenth of the portfolio. QQQ is the better fit for investors who trade often, use options or want the tightest spreads. Check ONEQ’s next holdings filing to see whether Apple stays near 10.08% and whether QQQ’s newer filings change the comparison.
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Jake has been been working in financial media for almost 15 years. He focuses on all things personal finance for 24/7 Wall St. with high hopes to educate and entertain. Most recently, Jake spent 12 years working various roles at The Motley Fool. He started copy editing fool.com content, worked on premium and marketing campaigns, and helped launch The Ascent, a personal finance brand.
His work has been featured on platforms like MSN, Yahoo Finance, USA Today, and more. He's written about credit cards, social security, ETFs, savings accounts, and just about anything else you can imagine when thinking about money. Jake love to cook, play golf, and tell people he's never had a cavity. (It's true!)
