Challengers Emerge After Structural Shift

Any investor worth their salt knows that the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) has been relied upon as a means for tapping into technology and innovation for decades. This is due to the fact that QQQ offers direct exposure to the companies within the Nasdaq-100 Index — an index heavily weighted towards attractive tech companies. 

Key Takeaways:

• Back in December 2025, the Invesco QQQ announced a number of structural changes to its format. The main purpose was to modernize operations while lowering the expense ratio.
• Since then, the fund has lost a few billion dollars in assets under management (as of 2026), despite doing quite well in long-term returns.
• New competition is emerging for QQQ, with BlackRock and State Street filing to launch similar funds that also track the Nasdaq-100 Index.

Towards the tail end of 2025, Invesco turned heads when it announced a series of changes to QQQ’s structure. To start, its format shifted from a unit investment trust into the open-ended ETF structure. Additionally, the fund’s annual fee lowered from 0.20% to 0.18%. 

See more: Invesco QQQ Gets Green Light for Modernization

In essence, the changes to QQQ’s structure helped to modernize the fund for today’s market. It increased transparency, enabled portfolio managers to access new investment tools, and crucially, did all of this without any meaningful portfolio change or tax impact. 

QQQ’s Report Card

Some may now may be wondering how QQQ has been doing this year, given that the structure change happened near the very end of 2025. From December 31, 2025 to April 21, 2026, the fund has lost roughly $2.6 billion. However, it should also be taken into account that it has well over $420 billion in assets under management, so it’s naturally prone to larger swings in inflows and outflows. 

It should also be noted that although QQQ has been seeing some outflows, the fund is still putting up good results. As of March 30, 2026, its NAV had risen 23.69% over the last 12 months. 

See more: Hyperscaler AI Spending Plans Could Chart Course For QQQ

New Challengers Are Entering the Ring

For years, QQQ has enjoyed both strong results and minimal competition, but that may be changing soon. Recently, both BlackRock and State Street filed to launch their own variations of QQQ. This was due to Nasdaq expanding access to the precious Nasdaq-100 index. 

So far, it seems that BlackRock and State Street are the only firms to partner with Nasdaq and challenge QQQ’s dominance. This might be in part due to Nasdaq being choosy about who it works with, and also partly because many firms have trepidation about challenging a market giant like QQQ. 

Regardless, it will be interesting to see how things play out — should BlackRock, State Street or other contenders bring new products into this arena. Perhaps they’ll offer different expense ratios or other perks to entice investors into giving their QQQ alternative a shot. After all, competition drives innovation. 

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