Nasdaq-100 Index Funds Around the World: QQQ Equivalents by Country

In 30 seconds: CLEC’s core holding is the Nasdaq-100 (QQQ), but investors in each country have their own local version. Rule of thumb: Americans buy QQQ/QQQM directly; non-US investors prefer Irish UCITS (CNDX/EQQQ) to avoid US estate tax. Below is every market’s QQQ equivalent, its 2×/3× leveraged version, cash instruments, and pledge-lending options.¹

⚠️ Tickers, sizes, fees, and tax rules change, and local regulation differs. Summarized from CLEC for education/research only — not investment advice; verify the latest data and your own tax status before investing. Leveraged (2×/3×) products are very high-risk.

Rules of thumb

• Americans: VOO/SPY/QQQ; with less capital, QQQM (lower fee). Also Invesco Nasdaq-100 Index Fund (IVNQX).
• Non-resident aliens (NRA): prefer Irish/European UCITS (iShares CNDX, Invesco EQQQ) — legally non-US-situs, avoiding US estate tax. See UCITS-ETF-非美國投資人.
• Young investors favor growth (pure QQQ types); retirees only gradually add high-dividend cash flow — this holds across all markets.¹

QQQ equivalents by market

Market	Core Nasdaq-100	2× / 3× leverage	Notes
🇺🇸 US	QQQ, QQQM, IVNQX	QLD (2×), TQQQ (3×)	The source; estate-tax risk for non-US
🇹🇼 Taiwan	Fubon 00662	00670L (2×), 00631L	DCA-friendly; retirees use QQQI via sub-brokerage
🇨🇳 China	513100, 513300, 513390, 513870, 160213, 159941, 161130, 159501…	via HK leverage / Stock Connect	10+ QDII funds, capped by FX quotas
🇭🇰 Hong Kong	ChinaAMC 3086(HKD)/9086(USD), iShares 2834(HKD)/9834(USD), Invesco 3455	Southbound 7266, ChinaAMC 7261 (2×)	3455 has US estate-tax risk; many Nasdaq options, no SPY equivalent
🇯🇵 Japan	2631 (MAXIS, large & low-fee), 1545, 2568/2569	2869 (iFreeETF 2×)	Rakuten/SBI also let you buy QQQ directly
🇰🇷 Korea	133690 (TIGER), 368590 (KBSTAR), 367380 (KINDEX)	—	SPY: 360750 / 379780 / 360200
🇨🇦 Canada	HXQ.TO (no distribution, no 15% withholding — better), QQC	QQU.TO (2×)	Pledge: Wealthsimple PLOC, RBC/TD
🇦🇺 Australia	NDQ (Betashares)	LNAS (3×, high-risk)	IBKR SBLOC to pledge (needs wholesale-investor status)
🇬🇧 UK	CNDX.L (USD)	LQQ3.L (3×, GBP, limited brokers)	Pledge via private banking (Lloyds from £250k)
🇪🇺 Europe	EQQQ, QQQA, LYMS.DE	LQQ.PA/.MI, L817.F/.DE (2×), 3QQQ (3×, IE00BLRPRL42)	DEGIRO etc.; France PEA uses Amundi LQQ
🇸🇬 Singapore / 🇲🇾 Malaysia	Irish UCITS (CNDX/XNAS) or HK 02834	HK QLD 07261	IBKR/FSMOne/StanChart for LSE-listed Irish ETFs; no TQQQ substitute
🇮🇳 India	Motilal Oswal MO NASDAQ 100 ETF	—	Or buy US stocks via Vested / Winvesta
🇳🇿 New Zealand	Buy QQQ/QQQM directly; local Foundation Series Nasdaq-100 (PIE, 0.15%), USG	—	USG only ~65% Nasdaq-like, higher fee
🇧🇷 Brazil	NASD11	—	Newer
🌍 Non-US general	iShares CNDX (= German Xetra ticker SXRV, USD Acc), Invesco EQQQ, Xtrackers XNAS	France LQQ (2×, FR0010342592), WisdomTree 3QQQ (3×)	Accumulating = cleanest tax; SXRV has high volume and is popular in Europe (00575 European member); see UCITS-ETF-非美國投資人

Cash positions (each region’s “liquidity parking lot”)

A cash position is about safety and liquidity, not yield — don’t treat high-dividend funds as cash.¹

• US: BIL, SGOV, SHV, BOXX, money funds (VMFXX/SPRXX)
• Taiwan: 00865B (CTBC US 0–1yr Treasuries)
• China: 511880 (Yinhua money ETF), 511360 (short-bond ETF), Treasury reverse repo; don’t treat 161115 as cash (holds bonds/stocks/convertibles)
• Hong Kong: CSOP USD money 9096/3096; E Fund (HK) USD money fund
• Canada: CMR.TO, ZMMK.TO, CASH.TO, HSAV.TO; RBF636/RBF271, TDB164
• Europe: Morgan Stanley Liquidity Funds (LVNAV, EUR/GBP/USD)
• Singapore (UK-style): BOXX = IB01 (LSE)

High-dividend cash-flow versions (retirees only)

Young investors should avoid high-dividend (lower growth); retirees add gradually: US/Taiwan QQQI; Singapore JEPQ.L; Hong Kong has two Global X active covered-call funds: 3451(HKD)/9451(USD) = Nasdaq-100 covered call (Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call Active, monthly, ~13% yield), plus the HSCEI covered-call 3416/9416/83416 (China-exposure covered calls, not pure Nasdaq).¹

🇭🇰 3451.HK vs QQQI vs GEPQ: why QQQI is still first choice (00575, a senior member, 2026-07, subject to change): to get “close to QQQI” Nasdaq high-dividend cash flow in HK/Asia while avoiding the 30% US dividend withholding tax of directly holding a US ETF, look at 3451.HK (HKD distribution) or 9451 (USD distribution, converting HKD to USD on payout day → small FX drag). The deck lists 3451’s trailing-12-month distribution ~HK$10.2/unit, price ~HK$79–80, yield ~12.8–13%. But after testing, a senior member finds QQQI is still first choice:²

Item	QQQI	GEPQ	3451.HK
Management fee	~0.68–0.7%	0.35%	0.9%
Fund size	Large	Medium	only ~US$30M+ (too small)
Cash ratio	<5%	Medium	~20% (to meet redemptions)
Method	Nasdaq-100 options (low margin need, ~98% invested)	Middle	Futures + OTC (needs more cash)
This year YTD (incl. dist.)	~12%	9–10%	<4%

• Size is the key: 3451 is too small, forced to hold ~20% cash to meet redemptions, dragging returns; QQQI uses options with low margin need and can be ~98% invested. The return gap mainly comes from the cash ratio.
• Conclusion: QQQI ≈ GEPQ both work (differing in fee and mechanics); 3451 currently lags both, but if you’re in HK with no better option, 3451 still works; if it grows to hundreds of millions / billions later, it’d be a good product.²
• All three are only transition tools for retirement cash flow (see the “transition product” section of 退休需要多少錢); after assets grow over a decade you sell them off, so estate tax isn’t a main concern. QQQI’s return-of-capital mechanism is in QQQI.

🇸🇬 Singapore: three account types + QQQI tax refund (00575, 2026-07, subject to change): Singapore has no estate tax, and account options are more flexible than most regions; most brokers / some banks offer three account types:³

• Joint Account: parents and children co-hold; drawback is that at inheritance you must sell everything in the account before transferring to heirs.
• Beneficiary Account (best): fully the holder’s while alive (free to margin, pledge, borrow); after the holder passes, the beneficiary takes over and clears the account’s pledge loans (the heir can pledge from their own other account to repay), and the remaining stocks stay in the account without selling — and Singapore pledging can buy more stock (US pledging can’t).
• Trust Account.
• QQQI tax refund: Singapore members report that buying QQQI via IBKR, Citibank (and some brokers), the 30% withholding can be refunded; HSBC, Standard Chartered may not refund. To buy QQQI, use IBKR or a US broker; buying JEPQ.L (London-listed Irish version) has no withholding/holding issue.³

Leverage and pledging

• 2×/3× leveraged versions are in the table above; first read smart rebalancing and its risk warnings (volatility decay, amplified drawdowns).
• Pledge lending (borrow, don’t sell) by region: US Schwab PAL; Canada Wealthsimple PLOC / RBC / TD; Australia IBKR SBLOC (needs wholesale status; retail cap A$50k and no external withdrawal); UK private banks (Lloyds from £250k); Germany finanzen.net zero, flatex; Hong Kong HSBC portfolio loan. See pledged loans for the concept and risks.

🇭🇰 Hong Kong HSBC portfolio loan: practical details (00508, 2025-03, subject to change): Hong Kong is relatively open financially, and HSBC allows stock pledging; non-China residents can open an HK HSBC account to pledge (worth considering for other Southeast-Asian regions with no pledge channel). Key points:⁴

• QQQ and SGOV are pledgeable, but BOXX is not — if you pledge at HSBC, use SGOV / a money-market fund as the cash collateral, not BOXX (the deck states plainly: “HSBC finance can use SGOV; BOXX cannot be pledged”).
• LTV and rate (deck figures): QQQ’s pledge advance rate is about 70%; the portfolio-loan interest rate is about 4.5%–5%. Leveraged funds cannot be used as collateral.⁴
• More conservative allocation: to borrow 2% a year while holding a 250% maintenance rate, you can only start with half QQQ / half SGOV and must not start with leveraged funds, or you’ll go bankrupt. Example: with NT$2M pledged you can borrow NT$40k/year (2%), allocated 50% QQQ / 50% SGOV.⁴
• Channels: for HK pledging use HSBC bank / HSBC securities; 家信理財 (Chief Securities) can’t pledge stock; Futu only offers margin (high interest). On a margin loan (e.g. IB) borrow at most 10%, or a drawdown triggers a margin call.

🇨🇳 Mainland China: multi-bank “rolling credit” and moving funds to Hong Kong (00574, 2026-07, subject to change): A mainland student asked “can I take RMB 200k of consumer credit at 3%/year for 3 years?”; James taught a bank-rotation scheme (mainland banks’ credit reporting isn’t fully linked):⁵

• Rolling revolving borrowing: borrow from bank A first, six months later from B, six months later C, leaving one bank D untouched; when A comes due in 2–3 years, borrow from D to repay A, rotating between banks — “effectively you never have to repay that sum after three years,” the same idea as shuffling multiple credit cards. If you can carry 200k, borrow in 50k tranches on rotation.
• Allocation principle: fold the borrowed money into your overall allocation (e.g. 50万 becomes 55万 after borrowing 5万), keep one year of living expenses / emergency cash, invest the rest. If you’re still working with stable income you can invest aggressively; with no leveraged fund there’s no 433 to speak of — just put it all in the Nasdaq index first.
• Getting funds to Hong Kong: open an HK bank card to move funds to Hong Kong, then buy pledgeable holdings there, or the 2× leveraged version for 433. Whether consumer-credit funds transfer smoothly to HK — “you only find out by trying”; practice varies, verify compliance yourself.

🈶 China’s high-dividend isn’t stable enough (00574): A student wanted to park “100× monthly spending” (≈ 8× annual, drawing ~12%/year) into mainland high-dividend 513530 as retirement cash flow. James cautioned: mainland high-dividend (the “Sunflower Manual” estimates ~7.65%) has a shaky base — the underlying is A-shares, with too short a track record and unstable returns, an unknown risk; high-dividend built on SPY/QQQ (e.g. US QQQI) is steadier. Add that “moving mainland funds to HK is now harder,” and it’s a dilemma to work around yourself. For the multiple logic of retirement cash flow see 退休需要幾倍年開銷.⁵

🈶 China: buy “on-exchange” not “off-exchange,” and one 513100 is enough (00575): China’s Nasdaq QDIIs come as on-exchange (exchange-listed, e.g. 513100) and off-exchange (subscribed via bank/fund platforms). Off-exchange often has a daily subscription cap (a member said “only ¥10 a day”), with small quotas; on-exchange has no limit (“you can buy ¥10M if you want”). So James recommends the on-exchange fund — the QDIIs listed on the message board are all on-exchange. Also, buying just one 513100 is no different from buying four: “buying one is the same as buying four, no difference.” (James often uses 513100 as shorthand for “China’s Nasdaq-100 index fund,” not the only one you can buy.)⁶

Footnotes

1. CLEC James, “The World’s Best Way to Invest in the US Nasdaq-100” (with student contributions per country). Converted source: raw/docs/教學資料/世界最佳美國那斯達克100指數投資.md. Tickers and figures reflect the source at the time and will change. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. CLEC a senior member, 長篇 00575 “What truly teaches you is not the result, but the process!”, 2026-07-25, 3451.HK/9451 vs QQQI vs GEPQ comparison @34:30–41:00 (fees GEPQ 0.35 / QQQI ~0.68 / 3451 0.9; 3451 size only ~US$30M+, cash ~20%, YTD <4%; QQQI cash <5%, YTD ~12%; GEPQ 9–10%). 3451 yield page (12.8–13%, HK$10.2 distribution, HK$79–80 price) in raw/docs/簡報資料/00575… slide 22. Transcript in raw/transcripts/長篇/00575…; size/return figures change substantially over time, verify yourself. ↩ ↩²

3. CLEC Singapore members, 長篇 00575, 2026-07-25, Singapore’s three account types (joint / beneficiary / trust) and QQQI tax refund (IBKR, Citibank refundable; HSBC, StanChart may not) @42:30–46:30. Transcript in raw/transcripts/長篇/00575…. Tax and account rules vary by broker/personal status and change; verify yourself. ↩ ↩²

4. CLEC James, long session 00508 “Live Simulation 2000–2025… HK HSBC Portfolio Loan Fully Explained,” 2025-03-22. Transcript at raw/transcripts/長篇/00508… (HSBC pledging @08:00–20:00, @39:30–40:30); the 70% advance rate / 4.5–5% rate / 250% maintenance / 50%QQQ+50%SGOV example come from the same session’s deck raw/docs/簡報資料/00508…. Decaying regional intel — defer to HSBC’s terms at the time. ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. CLEC James, long session 00574 “Consumption Is the Mother of the Economy…,” 2026-07-18, a mainland member’s multi-bank rolling credit (A→B→C→D rotation, 200k at 3%/3yr, moving funds to HK) @41:00–44:30, another member’s mother “mainland high-dividend 513530 / 511880 cash / 7.65% unstable” @36:30–39:30. Transcript: raw/transcripts/長篇/00574…. Decaying regional intel — verify compliance and current terms yourself. ↩ ↩²

6. CLEC James, 長篇 00575, 2026-07-25, China 513100 on-exchange vs off-exchange, “buying one is the same as buying four” @56:30–58:00. Transcript in raw/transcripts/長篇/00575…. ↩