NZF vs QQQ: Correlation
How closely do Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund (NZF) and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) trade together? Their weekly returns over three years give a correlation of 0.30, which is moderate.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are NZF and QQQ?
Across a 3-year window, the weekly returns of NZF and QQQ correlate at 0.30, moderate. The past 12 months show a tighter link (0.41) than the 3-year average (0.30). Stretching to 5 years gives 0.42, with an annualized covariance of 67.8 %².
Out of 25 assets tracked against NZF, QQQ lands near the bottom at #22. Their recent paths diverged sharply: over the last 12 months QQQ outperformed by 15.5 percentage points (+10.8% for NZF against +26.3% for QQQ). Note the risk asymmetry: QQQ runs 1.7 times the annualized volatility of the other leg, so equal-weighting the two is not an equal-risk position.
How is this computed?
Pearson correlation on weekly returns: ρ(A,B) = cov(rA, rB) / (σA · σB), over windows of 52, 156 and 260 weeks. Covariance is annualized (×52) and expressed in %². Full definitions on the methodology page.
NZF vs QQQ: side by side
| NZF (Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund) | QQQ (Invesco QQQ Trust) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +10.8% | +26.3% |
| 5-year return | -4.1% | +95.4% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 11.6% | 19.6% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.30 | 1.28 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -12.4% | -22.8% |
| Market cap | $2.4B | – |
| P/E (trailing) | 13.5 | – |
| Dividend yield | 7.80% | 0.44% |
| Expense ratio | – | 0.18% |
| Assets under management | – | $452.8B |
| Sector / category | US Listed | ETF · US Growth & Tech |
QQQ is a Large Growth fund from Invesco: $452.8B under management, 104 holdings, a 0.18% expense ratio, a 0.44% trailing dividend yield.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | NZF | QQQ |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -25.5% | -32.6% |
| 2023 | +2.5% | +54.9% |
| 2024 | +10.1% | +25.6% |
| 2025 | +11.8% | +20.8% |
| 2026 | +2.4% | +17.7% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are NZF and QQQ good diversifiers for each other?
Yes, to a useful degree: a correlation of 0.30 leaves real independence between the two, which historically damped combined volatility.
FAQ
What is the correlation between NZF and QQQ?
The NZF/QQQ correlation stands at 0.30 on a 3-year window (1 year: 0.41, 5 years: 0.42), computed from weekly returns as of 2026-08-27.
Is QQQ a good diversifier for NZF?
Yes, to a useful degree: a correlation of 0.30 leaves real independence between the two, which historically damped combined volatility.
What does a correlation of 0.30 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.30 describes how much the two returns move together: +1 is lockstep, 0 is independence, negative values mean opposite directions. It says nothing about which performed better.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/nzf-vs-qqq.json
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Related comparisons
Hubs: NZF correlations · QQQ correlations
