---
title: "EASY's first year trailed the defensive index it names"
url: "https://etf.net/news/easy-s-first-year-trailed-the-defensive-index-it-names-2026-09-30"
published_at: "2026-09-30T14:55:20.643Z"
updated_at: "2026-09-30T14:55:20.643Z"
byline: "ETF.net Research"
---

# EASY's first year trailed the defensive index it names

Liberty One's defensive dividend fund EASY reported a market-price return of 8.9% through August 31, 2026, against 16.6% for the Morningstar defensive-sectors index it names.

By ETF.net Research. Published Sep 30, 2026.

Liberty One's defensive dividend fund EASY, which holds large U.S. companies the adviser picks for their dividends, finished its first year on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, trailing the comparison index the firm itself names.

Through Monday, August 31, 2026, the published market-price return since the Tuesday, September 30, 2025 listing was **8.9%**. The Morningstar North America Defensive Sectors Index, the comparison the fund names and does not track, returned **16.6%** since that listing. Liberty One's table prints the same 16.6% for the S&P 500 total return, with dividends reinvested.

From the close on listing day to the August 31 close, the S&P 500 fund SPY returned 16% with dividends reinvested. That fund holds the large U.S. companies in the index.

Vanguard's dividend-appreciation fund VIG, which holds U.S. companies that have raised their dividends, returned 13.5% over that same stretch, also with dividends reinvested. VIG charges 0.04%. EASY charges 0.85%.

The gap was already wide after four months.

For the period ended Saturday, January 31, 2026, the value of the fund's holdings rose 4.4%. The S&P 500 index rose 4.6%. The defensive-sectors index rose 9.4%.

Chart: **EASY** trailed the defensive index in both published windows

"This tactical focus on defensive equities allowed the Fund to significantly outperform the broader market during the late-January volatility, as its holdings benefited from their inherent stability and compelling relative valuations compared to the highly priced growth factor."

The January report was describing a few weeks inside that period. Those weeks do not rewrite the four months.

Over that period the defensive-sectors index beat the S&P 500, and the fund trailed both. The August table still shows the fund behind that index.

## The stocks the adviser picked

EASY does not copy an index. The adviser picks the stocks, 24 of them, with Eli Lilly the largest at 6.4% and five healthcare companies together at 28%. Healthcare, consumer staples, and utilities, the three sectors in the comparison index, are 58%, and the top 10 holdings are 51%.

Chart: **Eli Lilly** is the largest holding, at 6.4%

Microsoft, Chubb, and other large companies sit outside those three sectors.

## What the dividends paid

Liberty One says the fund emphasizes a rising stream of dividend income. The cash has come monthly, more often than the listing notice described.

The Nasdaq circular said dividends from the fund's income, if any, would be paid once a year. Payments began in November 2025. Eleven of them add up to 28 cents a share.

They have not climbed. The payment on Wednesday, May 20 was less than a penny. The payment on Wednesday, September 23, the latest and the largest, was 6 cents.

The adviser has agreed to cover enough of the fee to hold the net expense ratio at 0.85% rather than 0.88%, through at least Tuesday, December 1, 2026.

Net assets were $36 million on Saturday, January 31 and $60 million on Tuesday, September 29.

The defensive index Liberty One named matched the S&P 500 in the firm's own table. The fund did not.

Source: etf.net, https://etf.net/news/easy-s-first-year-trailed-the-defensive-index-it-names-2026-09-30. Please cite the page URL.