HACK vs IHAK

HACKCAmplify Cybersecurity ETF

IHAKBiShares Cybersecurity and Tech ETF

In short

HACK Cybersecurity by the rulebook: HACK has tracked the Indxx Cybersecurity Index since 2014 and has grown into a multi-billion-dollar fund in a now-crowded corner of thematic investing.

IHAK The cheap, genuinely global way to own cybersecurity. IHAK tracks a worldwide cyber index that reaches into emerging markets, holds roughly 40 names, and undercuts the category's two best-known funds on fees.

Stated mandate

HACK The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Indxx Cybersecurity Index.

IHAK The fund tracks a global equity index of companies focused on cybersecurity hardware, software, and services, providing exposure across developed and emerging markets.

Why people hold it

• HACK Live since November 2014, giving it a decade-plus of real-world history across several tech booms and drawdowns.
• Follows the published rules of the Indxx Cybersecurity Index rather than a manager's hunches, so you can see what drives the holdings.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund with steady day-to-day trading, which generally keeps spreads modest for ordinary-sized orders.
• Sits in the upper half of the cybersecurity ETF group, helped by calmer risk behavior and more staying power than the typical thematic one-off.

• IHAK 0.47% a year, under the cybersecurity cohort's 0.50% median and below both CIBR (0.58%) and HACK (0.60%).
• Genuinely global mandate: the NYSE FactSet Global Cyber Security Index spans developed and emerging markets, so security spending outside the US counts.ishares.com
• About 40 names across cyber hardware, software and services. Tight enough to be a real theme bet, wide enough not to ride on one vendor.
• Live since 2019 on iShares plumbing, and it stands in the upper tier of its eight-fund cybersecurity peer group.

Worth knowing

• HACK At 0.60% a year it prices above the 0.50% cybersecurity median, and BUG tracks the same declared index for 0.50%.
• One theme, one industry. When security and software spending falls out of favor, the portfolio has nowhere to hide.
• Not an income vehicle: distributions arrive only once or twice a year.

• IHAK One theme, roughly 40 stocks. If enterprise security budgets stall, there is nowhere inside the portfolio to hide.
• Volume is moderate rather than heavy. Less actively traded funds can carry wider bid-ask spreads, especially around the open and close.
• Global reach cuts both ways: foreign and emerging-market holdings add currency and country risk on top of the tech cycle.

Full HACK profile⁠

Full IHAK profile⁠