State Street Follows BlackRock With Filing to Challenge Invesco’s QQQ

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Three’s company, with both BlackRock and now State Street lining up to launch Nasdaq 100 ETFs. The funds would challenge long-time leader Invesco, which has dominated the space with its highly successful Invesco QQQ Trust. State Street Investment Management filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday for the SPDR Nasdaq 100 ETF, just a day after BlackRock’s iShares filed for its own. Those forthcoming funds are a result of Nasdaq opening up licensing for the index, which includes the 100 biggest US companies, excluding financial services.

Whether the two new entrants will be able to take market share from QQQ, and the company’s smaller Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQM), may come down to fees and brand preference. But the yet-to-be-launched funds may also have something to do with a potential IPO on the horizon. “A big part of it is just that there are folks who are brand loyal,” said Dave Nadig, president and research director at ETF.com. “So if you want to get exposure to the Qs’ because you’re trying to game the SpaceX inclusion pop, then having a BlackRock or Vanguard or State Street, etc., way to play it makes some amount of sense.” On that note, the existing iShares Nasdaq Top 30 Stocks ETF (QTOP) may also be a way investors look for SpaceX exposure after the initial public offering, he said.

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ETF investors are cost-conscious. Over the past 12 months, QQQM has pulled in more money than QQQ, which likely is partly because of its 3 basis-point fee advantage (QQQ charges 18 bps, compared with 15 for QQQM). And in the first two months of 2026, the $70 billion QQQM raked in $1.6 billion, compared with net outflows of $8 billion from QQQ, per data from Morningstar Direct. “Fees will likely play a very significant role when competing with QQQ’s existing scale. Assuming lower fees and the fact that both BlackRock and State Street have well-established ETF suites, it shouldn’t be difficult to attract investors to these products,” said Roxanna Islam, head of sector and industry research at TMX VettaFi. “It’s an interesting move, given the recent news that SpaceX and other potential IPOs might be able to join the Nasdaq 100 more quickly after going public.”

Nasdaq pointed to more licenses for a “select set of partners” in the US, but it did not name names or specify how many companies might be able to add Nasdaq 100 ETFs, in comments it issued Monday. For its part, Invesco cited the 25-year history of its flagship ETF, stating that, “There is only one QQQ.” Following BlackRock’s filing, Bloomberg reported that Invesco’s stock dropped by over 5%. It’s also worth noting that while the stock is down 15% year to date, it’s up 79% over a year.

Three’s a Crowd? Having significantly lower fees would certainly steer some investors to the new ETFs, but even that won’t convince everyone, Nadig said. “Assuming that Nasdaq license fees aren’t insane, there’s plenty of room for cost competition, too. The cheapest way to get exposure right now is 15 basis points,” he said. “Given that 3 [basis points] is a pretty good passive baseline, that’s about 12 basis points of erosion you could expect from new players if somebody really wanted to come in and try to kick the Qs to the curb.”

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