HBDC vs LBAY

HBDCAHilton BDC Corporate Bond ETF

LBAYCLeatherback Long/Short Alternative Yield ETF

In short

HBDC Private credit's lenders have to borrow too. HBDC owns the senior unsecured bonds that business development companies issue, a first-mover take on BDC debt instead of BDC stock, wrapped in a rules-based index.

LBAY A hedge-fund playbook in ETF clothing: long the companies returning cash through dividends, buybacks and debt paydowns, short the single names it thinks are broken, net long throughout, 1.20% a year, paid monthly.

Stated mandate

HBDC The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the Solactive Hilton Capital BDC Corporate Bond TR Index.

LBAY The Fund seeks capital appreciation and income through an actively managed long/short equity strategy.

Why people hold it

• HBDC At 0.39% it undercuts the typical alternatives fund (cohort median near 1.01%) and peers like QAI at 0.75% and FTLS at 0.95%.
• First fund built only around BDC bonds, and it sits above the equity: senior unsecured debt from issuers required by law to keep 150% asset coverage.hiltoncapitalmanagement.comhiltonetfs.com
• Plumbing is plain: a Solactive index rebalanced quarterly with credit and liquidity screens, and the fund seeks to pay monthly.hiltonetfs.com

• LBAY "Shareholder yield" here means dividends plus buybacks plus debt paydowns, so the long book can hold cash-returners that never clear a plain dividend screen.sec.gov
• The short side is stock-picking, not just hedging: accounting oddities, short-lived fads, weak governance records. Sector and factor ETF shorts are also on the menu.sec.govsec.gov 2
• Longs can reach past common stock into preferreds, BDCs, MLPs, REITs and convertibles, and it can write covered calls on up to 100% of a position.sec.gov
• Runs as a 1940 Act fund with daily trading and monthly distributions, a different shape from the lockups that usually come with this kind of strategy.

Worth knowing

• HBDC Non-diversified by design. The BDC bond universe is small, so one issuer's credit trouble carries more weight here than in a broad corporate bond fund.hiltonetfs.com
• Thinly traded, so spreads can run wider than in mainstream bond ETFs.
• Launched in 2025, meaning the record is short and has not yet spanned a full credit cycle.

• LBAY At 1.20% the fee sits near the typical alternatives fund, with no cut of the profits on top. Top-ranked peers do run leaner, though: FLSP charges 0.65%.
• Shorting costs money beyond the expense ratio: borrow fees plus any dividends owed on the borrowed shares. A short that keeps climbing has no built-in loss limit.sec.gov
• Small fund, light trading. Spreads can widen, so limit orders and a glance at the day's volume do real work here.

Full HBDC profile⁠

Full LBAY profile⁠