FMF vs WTMF

FMFCFirst Trust Managed Futures Strategy Fund

WTMFAWisdomTree Managed Futures Strategy Fund

In short

FMF One of the original managed futures ETFs, trading since 2013: long, short or flat across commodity, currency, equity index and Treasury futures, aiming at returns that don't track stocks or bonds.

WTMF A managed futures veteran. Trading since 2011, WTMF takes rules-based long and short positions across commodity, currency, equity and rate futures, aiming for returns with limited direct link to stocks or bonds.

Stated mandate

FMF The Fund seeks positive returns that are not directly correlated with broad equity or fixed-income market returns. It primarily uses exchange-listed futures, including through a wholly owned Cayman Islands subsidiary, and may take long or short positions across global futures markets.

WTMF The Fund seeks positive total returns in rising or falling markets with limited direct correlation to broad equity or fixed-income returns. It uses a quantitative, rules-based approach with long and short futures positions across commodity, currency, equity, and interest-rate markets.

Why people hold it

• FMF Running since 2013, one of the earliest ETFs to package a trend-following futures playbook that had mostly lived inside hedge funds.etfstrategy.com
• Goes long, short or flat across commodity, currency, equity index and global debt futures, including Treasuries, so falling trends are tradable too.ftportfolios.com
• Actively run against a diversification mandate: positive returns not directly correlated to broad equity or fixed income markets. No index to hug.
• Holds its futures through a wholly owned Cayman subsidiary, the plumbing that lets a fund wrapper carry this much derivatives exposure. Pays quarterly.

• WTMF Live since January 5, 2011, making it one of the longest-tenured managed futures ETFs, and it follows a published rules-based strategy rather than a discretionary trader's judgment.wisdomtree.com
• Charges 0.66% net of a waiver through December 31, 2026 (0.67% gross), below the median fee in the managed futures category.
• A registered 1940 Act fund, so tax time brings a 1099 instead of the partnership K-1 that trails many futures products.
• Spreads exposure across roughly 40 positions in commodity, currency, equity and rate futures, and sits among the stronger implementations in its peer group.

Worth knowing

• FMF At 0.98% a year it prices above the category median of 0.82%, with cheaper takes on the same idea in WTMF (0.65%) and JPFP (0.59%).
• Thinly traded for an ETF, so the spread and a limit order matter more here than on a mega-cap index fund.
• Manager signals drive the outcome, and it sits in the lower half of a crowded managed futures group on our overall read.

• WTMF Cheaper shelf-mates exist: JPFP at 0.59%, and IMF at 0.65% net of a waiver through August 31, 2027.
• Thinly traded next to mainstream ETFs, so bid-ask spreads can run wider and order type matters more than with a big index fund.
• The strategy can place up to 10% of net assets in bitcoin-holding exchange-traded products and bitcoin futures (never bitcoin directly), adding a volatile sleeve.wisdomtree.com

Full FMF profile⁠

Full WTMF profile⁠