GMOD vs PTBD

GMODAGMO Dynamic Allocation ETF

PTBDAPacer Trendpilot US Bond ETF

In short

GMOD GMO's 7-year asset class forecasts, finally wrapped in an ETF. It tilts toward what the firm's valuation models call cheap and away from what they call expensive, shifting between stocks, bonds and alternatives inside one ticker.

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

GMOD The Fund seeks positive total return. It allocates among asset classes using GMO's multi-year return forecasts and relative-risk assessments.

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

• GMOD 0.50% all-in, about half the typical fee in its tactical-allocation peer group, and a contractual waiver offsets the fees of the GMO funds it holds so costs are not stacked.sec.gov
• GMO's first multi-asset strategy in an ETF, run by the asset allocation team behind the firm's long-running 7-year asset class forecasts.gmo.com
• The equity dial can swing between 40% and 80% of assets under normal conditions, so the fund handles the reallocating rather than you selling positions to do it.gmo.com
• Sits in the upper tier of a crowded tactical multi-asset group on cost and process clarity.

• 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

• GMOD New in 2025 and lightly traded so far, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads than the big allocation ETFs.
• It owns other GMO funds, and the single 0.50% rate leans on a contractual waiver with an expiration date rather than a permanent cap.sec.gov
• Cheaper tactical allocators exist (ENDW at 0.22%, ONOF at 0.39%), though each runs a different process.

• 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 GMOD profile⁠

Full PTBD profile⁠