BUYO vs LBO

BUYOBKraneShares Man Buyout Beta Index ETF

LBODWHITEWOLF Publicly Listed Private Equity 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.

LBO LBO plays both sides of the buyout trade: the sponsors doing the deals and the BDCs financing them. Its 6.53% headline cost is mostly the pass-through fees of those BDCs, not the adviser's own.

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.

LBO The actively managed fund seeks long-term capital appreciation and current income. It normally invests at least 80% of net assets in U.S.-listed private-equity companies, including leverage-finance providers and buyout, sponsor, and asset-management firms.

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.

• LBO Owns the whole buyout chain: listed buyout firms, sponsors and asset managers plus the leverage providers, with at least 80% of net assets in US-listed private equity companies.sec.gov
• Income is half the mandate. The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation and current income, and it pays quarterly.
• Peers pick a lane: GPZ at 0.40% buys alternative asset managers, BIZD at 9.69% buys BDCs. LBO takes both ends of the deal in one actively managed ticker.
• Runs unlevered at the fund level and rebalances and reconstitutes at least quarterly, with a live track record since 2023.alphaarchitect.com

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.

• LBO Expensive on paper: 6.53% total, above the category median, no fee waiver. Most of it is acquired fund fees from the BDCs it holds, a cost you also bear owning them directly.sec.gov
• A small fund that trades lightly, so spreads can be wider and limit orders carry more weight than with a mega-fund.
• Non-diversified and entirely financials: a handful of large positions set the tone, and the lending side tracks the credit cycle.sec.gov

Full BUYO profile⁠

Full LBO profile⁠