BUYO vs FBDC

BUYOBKraneShares Man Buyout Beta Index ETF

FBDCDFT Confluence BDC & Specialty Finance Income ETF

In short

BUYO Private equity's playbook, run through public stocks. BUYO tracks a Man Group index that screens listed companies for the growth, profitability and value traits buyout funds hunt for, then holds roughly 300 of them in a plain ETF wrapper.

FBDC First Trust points this one at business development companies and specialty finance lenders, a narrow lending corner of US financials, with income as the stated first job and payouts on a monthly cadence.

Stated mandate

BUYO The fund seeks to track the Man Buyout Beta Index, which provides exposure to public companies displaying characteristics associated with private-equity buyout investments.

FBDC The Fund seeks a high level of current income and, secondarily, an attractive total return.

Why people hold it

• BUYO 0.89% expense ratio, roughly half the median for listed private-markets ETFs and well under the 1.80% charged by the old guard of the group (PSP).
• Buyout-style exposure without private-fund plumbing: a systematic index of listed stocks, bought and sold like any other ETF share.kraneshares.com
• Roughly 300 names screened on growth, profitability and value, so the buyout tilt comes from a broad basket rather than a short list of alternative-asset managers.
• Ranks in the upper half of its listed private-markets peer group, helped by a diversified book and a risk profile milder than most ways to play this theme.

• FBDC Income is the stated job: the objective puts a high level of current income first and total return second. Distributions go out monthly.
• Narrow by design. Where XLF and VFH own the whole financial sector, this one concentrates on business development companies and specialty finance.
• It is a 1940 Act registered fund, so tax reporting arrives on a 1099 rather than a partnership K-1.

Worth knowing

• BUYO Small asset base and thin trading. Spreads and market impact can add to the cost of getting in and out, on top of the stated fee.
• Launched in October 2024, so the record covers only a short stretch of market weather. Less history to judge than most of its peers offer.
• Cheaper doors into the theme exist (GPZ at 0.40%, GTPE at 0.50%), though each tracks a different slice of the private-markets trade.

• FBDC The headline expense ratio is 12.44%, against a 0.44% median across its financials cohort. Cost is the dominant trade-off here.
• Small asset base and light trading: spreads can run wide, and a sizable order can push the price around.
• One slice of US financials, not the sector as a whole, so it can behave very differently from broad financial-sector funds.

Full BUYO profile⁠

Full FBDC profile⁠