The VanEck MSCI International Quality ETF (ASX: QUAL) currently has the distinction of being the most popular exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the ASX that isn't a traditionally-styled index fund.
With more than $8 billion in assets under management, QUAL is currently the fifth most popular ASX ETF on our markets. It comes in behind the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS), the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS), the iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) and the BetaShares Australia 200 ETF (ASX: A200).
Unlike those four ETFs, though, QUAL isn't a market-wide index fund that blindly invests in companies according to their market capitalisation, with few other considerations.
Instead, it tracks an index that actively screens companies to identify their quality. These screens include factors like a stock's return on equity, earnings stability and financial leverage.
After applying these screens to a range of internationally listed shares, the VanEck International Quality ETF settles on a portfolio of around 300 different stocks, hailing from more than a dozen different countries. These countries range from Switzerland, Japan and the United Kingdom to China, Denmark and Ireland.
However, the vast majority of QUAL's portfolio is drawn from the United States of America, which commands more than three-quarters of this ETF's weighted holdings.
So, let's get into what you're actually buying when purchasing QUAL units in 2026.
QUAL: What's in this ASX ETF's box?
Here are the current top ten holdings of the VanEck International Quality ETF, as well as their respective weightings in the QUAL portfolio:
- Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) at 5.67% of the total QUAL portfolio
- Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) at 5.02%
- NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) at 4.64%
- Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) at 4.62%
- Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) at 4.46%
- Eli Lilly & Co (NYSE: LLY) at 3.44%
- Visa Inc (NYSE: V) at 2.92%
- ASML Holding N.V. (AMS: ASML) at 2.52%
- Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) at 1.86%
- Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) at 1.77%
Some other significant QUAL holdings include Mastercard Inc (NYSE: MA), Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX), Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ: COST) and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT).
Not only does this list reveal how dominant the US is in this ASX ETF, but it shows how similar its holdings are to a broad-market US index fund like the iShares S&P 500 ETF. We discussed that ETF just the other day, so check out how its holdings compare to QUAL's here.
This methodology seems to have worked quite well for the VanEck International Quality ETF, though. As of 31 December, QUAL units have returned an average of 14.8% per annum over the past ten years, and 22.85% per annum over the past three. It will be interesting to see if this performance keeps up in 2026.
This ASX ETF charges a management fee of 0.4% per annum.
