CVRT vs FCVT

CVRTCCalamos Convertible Equity Alternative ETF

FCVTCFirst Trust SSI Strategic Convertible Securities ETF

In short

CVRT Convertible bonds that act like stocks. CVRT owns the equity-sensitive end of the US convertibles market, actively run by a firm that has specialized in converts for four decades.

FCVT Convertibles are a hybrid, quirky corner of the bond market, and this one hands the keys to a Los Angeles boutique that specializes in them. Active, global, no index to hug since 2015. Specialist judgment is the whole pitch, and you pay up for it.

Stated mandate

CVRT The Fund seeks total return through capital appreciation and current income.

FCVT The fund is actively managed and seeks total return by investing at least 80% of net assets in a diversified portfolio of U.S. and non-U.S. convertible securities under normal market conditions.

Why people hold it

• CVRT Convertible funds usually blend bond-like and stock-like issues. CVRT targets the high-delta end only (reference index: above 0.65 delta), keeping the equity link front and center.calamos.com
• Calamos pioneered convertible investing decades before ETFs existed. CVRT, launched in 2023, was the firm's first convertibles ETF.prnewswire.com
• Rules with a human hand: at least 80% of net assets in convertibles, chosen by a proprietary model plus fundamental inputs, with regular rebalancing to hold the exposure.calamos.com
• A compact book of roughly 60 convertibles, disclosed daily, that distributes monthly.

• FCVT No index to follow. First Trust farms security selection out to SSI Investment Management, a Los Angeles firm built around convertible assets, equities and hedging strategies.sec.gov
• Global by mandate: at least 80% of net assets in U.S. and non-U.S. convertible securities, with total return as the stated objective rather than income alone.ftportfolios.com
• The prospectus also permits synthetic convertibles (an income piece plus a conversion component), so the manager can build hybrid exposure where no traditional convertible exists.ftportfolios.com
• Live since 2015 with a diversified book of roughly 130 positions and monthly distributions.

Worth knowing

• CVRT Specialist pricing: 0.69% a year, a touch above the median for actively managed US equity funds.
• Thinly traded, so spreads can run wider than on a mainstream index fund.
• Two risks in one wrapper: high-delta converts track their issuers' shares closely and still carry the credit risk of the underlying bond.calamos.com

• FCVT That specialist team costs 0.95% a year, above the convertibles group median and several times index rivals ICVT (0.20%) and CWB (0.40%).
• Thinly traded next to the category's index heavyweights, which tends to mean wider spreads and more care needed on sizable orders.
• Convertibles track their underlying stocks, so this behaves more like equity risk than a plain bond fund, and synthetic positions add counterparty exposure.ftportfolios.com

Full CVRT profile⁠

Full FCVT profile⁠