PCQ vs QQQ: Correlation
How closely do PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund (PCQ) and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) trade together? Their weekly returns over three years give a correlation of 0.23, which is weak.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are PCQ and QQQ?
Across a 3-year window, the weekly returns of PCQ and QQQ correlate at 0.23, weak. The past 12 months show a tighter link (0.49) than the 3-year average (0.23). Stretching to 5 years gives 0.23, with an annualized covariance of 55.6 %².
Out of 10 assets tracked against PCQ, QQQ lands near the bottom at #7. Their recent paths diverged sharply: over the last 12 months QQQ outperformed by 15.0 percentage points (+11.3% for PCQ against +26.3% for QQQ). Risk is not evenly split, since QQQ carries 1.6 times the volatility of the other side.
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.
PCQ vs QQQ: side by side
| PCQ (PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund) | QQQ (Invesco QQQ Trust) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +11.3% | +26.3% |
| 5-year return | -40.9% | +95.4% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 12.5% | 19.6% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.25 | 1.28 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -17.4% | -22.8% |
| Market cap | – | – |
| P/E (trailing) | 291.0 | – |
| Dividend yield | 4.94% | 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 | PCQ | QQQ |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -14.7% | -32.6% |
| 2023 | -35.4% | +54.9% |
| 2024 | +1.5% | +25.6% |
| 2025 | +1.5% | +20.8% |
| 2026 | +3.3% | +17.7% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are PCQ and QQQ good diversifiers for each other?
Reasonably. At 0.23, PCQ and QQQ keep a meaningful degree of independence, and combining them has historically reduced portfolio volatility.
FAQ
What is the correlation between PCQ and QQQ?
Using weekly returns as of 2026-08-27: 0.23 over 3 years, with 0.49 over the last year and 0.23 over 5 years.
Is QQQ a good diversifier for PCQ?
Reasonably. At 0.23, PCQ and QQQ keep a meaningful degree of independence, and combining them has historically reduced portfolio volatility.
What does a correlation of 0.23 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.23 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/pcq-vs-qqq.json
Embed this badge (it refreshes with the data), with attribution:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/pcq-vs-qqq/)
No key needed, free to use. Full endpoint list in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: PCQ correlations · QQQ correlations
