Should You Invest in the First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector ETF (QTEC)?

Launched on April 19, 2006, the First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector ETF (QTEC) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Technology - Broad segment of the equity market.

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Technology - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 2, placing it in top 13%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $4.76 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Technology - Broad segment of the equity market. QTEC seeks to match the performance of the NASDAQ-100 Technology Sector Index before fees and expenses.

The NASDAQ-100 Technology Sector Index is an equal-weighted index based on the securities of the NASDAQ-100 Index that are classified as technology.

Costs

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.55%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.01%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector -- about 84.8% of the portfolio. Telecom and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

The top 10 holdings account for about 25.53% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 37.58% and it's up approximately 47.91% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 08/19/2026), respectively. QTEC has traded between $207.03 and $335.74 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.43 and standard deviation of 26.95% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 48 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, QTEC is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Technology ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) tracks Technology Select Sector Index and the Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund ETF Shares (VGT) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Information Technology 25/50 Index. State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF has $121.15 billion in assets, Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund ETF Shares has $146.96 billion. XLK has an expense ratio of 0.08%, and VGT charges 0.09%.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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