BWTG vs QLTY

BWTGDBrendan Wood TopGun ETF

QLTYAGMO US Quality ETF

In short

BWTG Roughly two dozen US stocks, screened by the TopGun model out of a 1,400-name 'Shareholder Conviction Universe.' A boutique research shop's high-conviction list wrapped in an ETF, priced at 0.98%.

QLTY Most quality ETFs run a rules screen. QLTY hands the job to GMO's stock pickers, who buy US companies they judge high quality and chase plain total return. Active conviction, priced like it: 0.50% a year.

Stated mandate

BWTG The Fund seeks growth consistent with preserving capital by investing mainly in publicly listed equities selected through the sub-adviser’s TopGun model. The model emphasizes companies receiving the highest investment-quality ratings.

QLTY The Fund seeks total return. It is actively managed and invests primarily in equities of U.S. companies that GMO believes are high quality.

Why people hold it

• BWTG Real concentration. Roughly two dozen names means the model's picks actually drive the fund, rather than getting diluted inside a long tail of filler positions.
• The process is stated up front: start from a large conviction universe of liquid US companies, then keep the ones earning the highest investment-quality ratings. Quality and momentum, advertised.aaii.com
• Plain wrapper. A standard 1940 Act ETF holding US-listed shares, so the risk you take on is stock selection, not structural machinery.

• QLTY Actively managed, not index-tracking. GMO's team chooses the US companies it considers high quality, under a straightforward total-return mandate instead of a published factor formula.
• GMO's read on quality leans toward wide moats and free cash flow, so the lineup can look meaningfully different from the index-built quality funds it sits beside.
• Opened in 2023 and already a multi-billion-dollar fund with moderate daily trading and a quarterly distribution schedule.
• The filings match the label: a standard 1940-Act fund holding US equities, screened on quality, no derivative wrapper or offshore complexity.

Worth knowing

• BWTG The 0.98% fee sits well above the 0.57% median for quality-focused active peers, and PSET runs a quality screen for 0.15%, ABFL for 0.49%.
• Small asset base and thin trading. Spreads tend to be wider than on a mega-cap index fund, and sizeable orders can push the price around.
• The TopGun model's internals stay proprietary, and the fund launched in 2023, so public evidence of how it behaves across a full market cycle is limited.aaii.com

• QLTY The 0.50% fee runs above the typical quality-cohort charge, and index-built rivals undercut it hard: QUAL at 0.15%, JQUA at 0.12%.
• No index to fall back on. Everything rides on GMO's stock selection, and the ETF's own record only starts in 2023.
• Mostly on that fee, it sits in the lower half of its US quality peer group even though it does the job its documents describe.

Full BWTG profile⁠

Full QLTY profile⁠