FFLS vs QAI

FFLSDThe Future Fund Long/Short ETF

QAIANYLI Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF

In short

FFLS A hedge-fund playbook in an ETF shell: a concentrated book of roughly 60 long and short US equity positions, actively run with no index to hug. The flexibility is real, and so is the 2.05% price tag.

QAI The original hedge fund replication ETF, listed in 2009: a fund of roughly 50 exchange-traded products tracking an index built to mimic hedge fund styles, for 0.81% net of a fee waiver (1.03% gross).

Stated mandate

FFLS The Fund seeks capital appreciation through an actively managed portfolio of long and short equity positions. It generally emphasizes U.S. exchange-listed securities and ADRs, while permitting foreign securities, derivatives, and ETFs.

QAI The Fund seeks to track the performance of the IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Index before fees and expenses. It uses passive indexing and invests primarily in exchange-traded products and related financial instruments representing the index.

Why people hold it

• FFLS It actually shorts. Most active equity ETFs only go long; this one runs both sides, so a negative view can be a position instead of just a name left out.
• Concentrated at roughly 60 positions, so individual stock calls carry real weight rather than washing out across hundreds of names.
• Long/short access inside a 1940 Act ETF: on-exchange trading any market day and daily published holdings, with no lockup or accreditation gate.
• Broad toolkit by design: US-listed stocks and ADRs at the core, with room for foreign securities, derivatives and other ETFs.

• QAI Billed as the first US-listed hedge fund replication ETF when it launched in March 2009, so it carries a record across multiple market cycles rather than a backtest.asiaasset.com
• Costs 0.81% net of a fee waiver (1.03% gross), below the alternatives category median and under IALT's 0.99%.
• Plain plumbing for an exotic idea: it holds exchange-traded products and related instruments to passively track the IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Index, and trades on an exchange all day.
• Stands near the front of the roughly 30 alternatives funds in its peer group on our review.

Worth knowing

• FFLS The fee is 2.05% a year, versus under 0.20% at index-plus peers like DFAU and FELC. That is the annual hurdle the long/short book carries.
• A small, thinly traded fund. Spreads can be wide and order size matters more here than with the mega-cap index crowd.
• Launched in 2023 with no index to measure against, so the track record is short and outcomes ride on manager judgment. Payouts come once or twice a year, not monthly.

• QAI Fund-of-funds design means your exposure runs through other ETFs and the index's mapping of them to hedge fund styles, with gross expenses of 1.03% against the 0.81% net line.
• Cheaper shelves sit nearby: FLSP at 0.65% and HBDC at 0.39%, though neither runs the same multi-strategy replication mandate.
• Moderately traded rather than a category volume leader, and payouts arrive annually or semiannually, so this is not an income-cadence vehicle.

Full FFLS profile⁠

Full QAI profile⁠