CIBR vs HACK

CIBRBFirst Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF

HACKCAmplify Cybersecurity ETF

In short

CIBR A 2015-vintage cybersecurity fund that grew into a multi-billion-dollar one. It tracks the Nasdaq CTA Cybersecurity Index with a tight basket of roughly 30 names, so every holding carries real weight.

HACK Cybersecurity by the rulebook: HACK has tracked the Indxx Cybersecurity Index since 2014 and has grown into a multi-billion-dollar fund in a now-crowded corner of thematic investing.

Stated mandate

CIBR The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield of the Nasdaq CTA Cybersecurity Index through an indexing approach. It normally invests at least 90% of net assets in the index's common stocks and depositary receipts.

HACK The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Indxx Cybersecurity Index.

Why people hold it

• CIBR Concentrated on purpose: roughly 30 stocks screened by the index as cybersecurity businesses, not a broad tech basket wearing a cyber label.
• Size and turnover work in your favor here: a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, which is what keeps spreads workable on a niche theme.
• Runs to the rulebook: at least 90% of net assets in the index's common stocks and depositary receipts, and it has tracked that index closely.
• Live since 2015, through multiple cyber hype cycles, and one of the stronger implementations in its peer group.

• HACK Live since November 2014, giving it a decade-plus of real-world history across several tech booms and drawdowns.
• Follows the published rules of the Indxx Cybersecurity Index rather than a manager's hunches, so you can see what drives the holdings.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund with steady day-to-day trading, which generally keeps spreads modest for ordinary-sized orders.
• Sits in the upper half of the cybersecurity ETF group, helped by calmer risk behavior and more staying power than the typical thematic one-off.

Worth knowing

• CIBR At 0.58% a year it sits above the 0.50% cybersecurity-ETF median, and cheaper shelves exist: IHAK at 0.47%, WCBR at 0.45%.
• One theme, about 30 names. A few holdings drive the outcome, so this behaves like a slice of tech, not a diversified core.
• Distributions land quarterly, but this is a growth-equity theme; the index tracks cybersecurity businesses, not payout streams.

• HACK At 0.60% a year it prices above the 0.50% cybersecurity median, and BUG tracks the same declared index for 0.50%.
• One theme, one industry. When security and software spending falls out of favor, the portfolio has nowhere to hide.
• Not an income vehicle: distributions arrive only once or twice a year.

Full CIBR profile⁠

Full HACK profile⁠