CQTM vs FOTO

CQTMBCorgi Quantum Computing ETF

FOTODTuttle Capital Pure Play Photonics ETF

In short

CQTM An active take on the quantum race that plays both sides: the companies building the machines and the ones building security meant to survive them. Fee is 0.35% a year, under the typical global thematic fund.

FOTO Photonics with a purity test: holdings must earn at least half their revenue from the business of moving data as light instead of electricity. About 40 global names, actively managed, and per its prospectus income comes first, generated with a systematic put spread strategy.

Stated mandate

CQTM The Fund's stated aim is to increase the value of shareholders' investments.

FOTO The Fund seeks current income and, secondarily, long-term capital appreciation. It targets photonics-related companies and uses a systematic put spread strategy to generate income.

Why people hold it

• CQTM 0.35% a year, comfortably below the median fee for the global thematic funds we grade.
• The 80% mandate stretches past hardware: quantum-enabled technologies and post-quantum security are in scope, so defense against quantum counts alongside the build-out.
• Actively managed and global in reach (US and international names), so the manager can rotate as the field moves instead of waiting on an index committee.
• Lands in the upper half of its global thematic peer group in our grading, with no structural red flags on the wrapper (a standard 1940 Act fund).

• FOTO The pure-play screen has teeth: companies must derive at least 50% of revenue or operating profit from photonics, so the theme is not padded with megacap filler.nasdaq.com
• The theme is spelled out, not vague: optical communications, silicon photonics, LiDAR, industrial lasers and optoelectronic devices, drawn from a global opportunity set.fotoetf.com
• Income leads the mandate, pursued with a systematic put spread strategy. That is an unusual build for a frontier-tech theme where cohort rivals chase appreciation alone.
• Actively traded since its 2026 launch, with listed options on Cboe and EDGX, so sizing and hedging tools exist alongside the shares.nasdaq.com

Worth knowing

• CQTM Launched in 2026, so the track record is short, and volatility has screened high even by single-theme standards. Our read on its risk rests on limited history.
• Small asset base and light trading volume, which tends to mean wider gaps between the buy and sell price than on household-name ETFs.
• The mandate targets capital appreciation and the fund has not been paying regular distributions, so this is a price-return holding.

• FOTO At 0.75%, the fee runs more than double the cohort median of 0.35%. Theme neighbors EUV (0.35%) and QTUP (0.00%) charge less for adjacent exposure.
• Non-diversified and roughly 40 names deep, with part of the exposure taken through swaps rather than shares, which layers counterparty risk onto a concentrated basket.fotoetf.comyahoo.com
• Put spread premium moves with volatility, and the short leg absorbs declines down to the long strike. Income from that engine is variable by design, not fixed.

Full CQTM profile⁠

Full FOTO profile⁠