The ETF landscape continues to shift and mature, and this week, the latest milestone comes for the American Century U.S. Quality Growth ETF (QGRO ). As the economy and markets continue to sputter and lack oomph, adding growth could offer one solution. That said, not all growth funds are created equal — a quality growth ETF approach could offer the right twist to handle pending uncertainty and get that growth exposure.
See more: More Than a Blip: This International ETF Is Finishing 2025 Strong
QGRO charges a 29 basis point fee for its approach. The strategy, which launched in 2018, recently crossed the $2 billion AUM mark, according to ETF Database data. The fund did so with more than $650 million in net inflows on a YTD basis, per ETF Database. Digging in deeper, it has added a further almost $200 million in AUM growth via price appreciation of assets within its portfolio.
So, how does the fund invest and what might be driving that flows interest? The quality growth ETF tracks an index of U.S. firms that offer growth potential and strong financial fundamentals. Specifically, QGRO tracks the American Century U.S. Quality Growth Index, including a mix of so-called “stable growth” and high-growth stocks. By balancing those, the ETF looks to provide steady, reliable growth performance. Its managers screen stocks for factors like cash flow, sales, profitability, and return on assets.
Together, its approach has helped the fund return 13.76% YTD and 29.6% over the last one year, according to ETF Database. Those returns helped the fund outperform its ETF Database Category and FactSet Segment averages over those time periods. Those averages came in at 21.45% and 12.1% over the last one year period, respectively.
“Investors have been seeking exposure to growth stocks in 2025, but only some of them offer high-quality attributes that can make sense in a potentially volatile market,” said VettaFi Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth. “It is great to see American Century reach a key milestone with this index-based ETF.”
Looking ahead, with a new AUM milestone under its belt, QGRO could prove an intriguing option. For those wanting some steadier, quality growth, QGRO may intrigue.
VettaFi LLC (“VettaFi”) is the index provider for QGRO for which it receives an index licensing fee. However, QGRO is not issued, sponsored, endorsed, or sold by VettaFi, and VettaFi has no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of QGRO.
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