FTLS vs QAI

FTLSBFirst Trust Long/Short Equity ETF

QAIANYLI Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF

In short

FTLS Hedge-fund mechanics in an ETF wrapper: a long book of US stocks paired with a short book, and short proceeds never recycled into more longs. Live since 2014, it's one of the originals on the long/short shelf.

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

FTLS The Fund seeks its objective through long and short positions in equity securities, with portfolio exposure managed across long and short positions.

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

• FTLS The short sleeve is a dial, not a fixture. Under normal conditions the portfolio runs 80-100% long and 0-50% short, and the manager can shrink the shorts or switch them off.mutualfunds.com
• No leverage baked in: short proceeds aren't used to buy more longs, so net long exposure stays at or below 100%, which can leave a sizable cash position.mutualfunds.com
• Trading since 2014 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, it's one of the older long/short ETFs on the market, with steady if unspectacular daily volume.
• Roughly 500 positions spread across the long and short books, so no single name drives the outcome. At least 80% of assets sit in US-listed equities or equity ETFs.usnews.com

• 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

• FTLS Cost is the trade-off: 1.38% a year, well above the typical actively managed US equity ETF. Shorting carries stock-borrow and dividend expenses that long-only funds don't.
• Against the full active US equity field it lands in the lower half, largely on price: core rivals like DFAU (0.12%) and DFAC (0.17%) run long-only for a sliver of the fee.
• The short book cuts both ways by design: it gains when shorted names fall and loses when they rise, so results can diverge sharply from a plain long-only equity fund.mutualfunds.com

• 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 FTLS profile⁠

Full QAI profile⁠