DALI vs PTBD

DALICFirst Trust Dorsey Wright DALI Equity ETF

PTBDAPacer Trendpilot US Bond ETF

In short

DALI Tactical, but only inside the stock market. DALI uses Dorsey Wright relative-strength rankings to lean US or international, then buys ETFs to express the call. One decision, rules-based, no exit to cash.

PTBD Trend following, pointed at bonds instead of stocks. A published rulebook shifts PTBD between high yield corporates and intermediate Treasuries as their relative strength changes, dialing credit risk up or down by formula rather than by opinion.

Stated mandate

DALI The fund seeks returns generally corresponding to the Nasdaq Dorsey Wright DALI EquityTM Index. The index uses relative-strength analysis to select between domestic and international equity and allocates among ETFs providing exposure to the selected asset class.

PTBD The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Pacer Trendpilot US Bond Index through a rules-based strategy that alternates between high-yield corporate bonds and U.S. Treasury bonds.

Why people hold it

• DALI The whole thesis is one call: US stocks or international. Relative-strength rules make it, and the fund holds ETFs to express it.ftportfolios.com
• Momentum is the advertised screen, run through Dorsey Wright's Dynamic Asset Level Investing framework, so shifts follow measured trend strength instead of a manager's read.ftportfolios.com
• Equity-only by design, spanning US, developed international and emerging markets. Trading since 2018, so the rules have run live through several very different markets.
• The 0.91% expense ratio sits slightly under the norm for tactical multi-asset funds, and distributions come quarterly.

• PTBD The rulebook is public and mechanical: high yield measured against Treasuries, compared to its 100-day average, with five straight closes needed to confirm. No manager hunch involved.paceretfs.com
• 0.60% a year, comfortably below the median for tactical multi-asset funds. Cheap for a strategy that does the reallocating for you.
• Holds roughly 1,000 bonds in whichever sleeve the signal points to, so no single issuer carries much weight. Income is distributed monthly.
• Trading since 2019, long enough to have run the rules through a rate shock and a credit wobble, and it sits in the upper tier of the tactical funds we cover.

Worth knowing

• DALI 0.91% is only cheap by tactical standards. Rules-based rivals like ENDW at 0.22% and ONOF at 0.39% do their own switching for far less.
• Relative strength is backward-looking by construction: the signal turns after a trend shows up, so inflection points get caught late.
• It trades thinly, so spreads can run wider than in the category's most active names. A small fund by ETF standards, too.

• PTBD Trend rules react, they don't anticipate. A sharp reversal can flip the signal after the move has happened, and the confirmation window means the switch lands days later.paceretfs.com
• In its risk-on position the portfolio is high yield corporate debt, full stop. That is credit risk, a different animal from Treasury rate risk.paceretfs.com
• Not one of the heavily traded names in its category, so the spread and a limit order matter more here than with a mega-fund.

Full DALI profile⁠

Full PTBD profile⁠