ALAI vs QTUM

ALAIBAlger AI Enablers & Adopters ETF

QTUMADefiance Quantum ETF

In short

ALAI Most AI funds hand the theme to an index. Alger hands it to analysts: active managers sort names into AI Enablers (the builders) and AI Adopters (the users), at 0.58% net of a waiver through December 31, 2027.

QTUM Live since 2018, QTUM turns the quantum-computing story into a plain index fund: about 90 global names spanning quantum hardware and machine learning, for 0.40% a year.

Stated mandate

ALAI The Fund’s stated aim is long-term growth in capital.

QTUM The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the BlueStar® Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index. It uses a passive indexing approach.

Why people hold it

• ALAI Two sides of the trade. The prospectus splits AI into Enablers (the hardware, software and services behind it) and Adopters (companies folding AI into their operations).sec.gov
• A judgment call, not a keyword screen: the manager must see AI playing a material role in driving a stock's performance over the next twelve to thirty-six months.sec.gov
• At least 80% of net assets go to equities of any market cap the manager believes benefit from AI, so small and mid caps can sit beside the megacap names.sec.gov
• 0.58% net of a waiver through December 31, 2027 (0.67% gross) lands below the AI category median, unusual for active stock picking. A multi-billion-dollar book behind it.

• QTUM 0.40% a year against a 0.68% median for its AI-theme cohort, and it undercuts peers like WTAI (0.45%) and ALAI (0.55%).
• Rules-based by design: it tracks the BlueStar Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index, so no manager is hand-picking which quantum story wins.
• About 90 holdings across global markets, so the theme rides on a basket instead of two or three pure plays.
• Size and liquidity back it up: a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, and one of the stronger implementations in its thematic peer group.

Worth knowing

• ALAI Index rivals cost less: ARTY at 0.47%, XAIX at 0.35%, neither on a waiver. The fee here buys research, and reverts toward 0.67% if the waiver lapses after 2027.
• Concentrated and busy. About 70 stocks in one theme, and the prospectus notes turnover costs sit outside the expense ratio and can raise taxes in a taxable account.sec.gov
• Launched in April 2024, so the record is short, and trading is moderate rather than among the category's heaviest, which can matter on large or fast orders.

• QTUM Risk is the softest part of the profile. One narrow, early-stage theme in a single asset class means sharper swings than a broad-market fund.
• The index covers machine learning as well as quantum, so part of the basket is familiar AI exposure rather than quantum specialists.
• Distributions come quarterly, but a growth theme like this is not built around income.

Full ALAI profile⁠

Full QTUM profile⁠