HBDC vs LSEQ

HBDCAHilton BDC Corporate Bond ETF

LSEQDHarbor Long-Short Equity ETF (LSEQ)

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.

LSEQ A hedge fund playbook in an ETF shell: LSEQ buys the large and mid caps it likes and shorts the ones it doesn't, keeping net long exposure usually between 40% and 60%. Roughly half-invested by design, with room to stretch to 150% long.

Stated mandate

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

LSEQ The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital through long and short positions in equity securities. It generally maintains net long exposure of 40% to 60%, with exposure occasionally reaching 150% long.

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

• LSEQ Shorting is the point, not a garnish. The fund runs a long book and a short book across Russell 1000 large and mid caps, so both sides of the trade drive the outcome.sec.gov
• Net exposure has guardrails: normally 40% to 60% long, with room to stretch to 150%. You always know roughly how much market you are carrying.sec.gov
• Hedge fund mechanics without the hedge fund gates: a 1940 Act fund that trades on an exchange, with published holdings, no lockups and no accreditation test.sec.gov
• Active from the ground up: about 160 positions, picked stock by stock rather than tracked, inside a single US large and mid cap universe.sec.gov

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.

• LSEQ Costs 2.28% a year against a 0.65% median for active US equity funds. Core rivals like DFAU (0.12%) and DFAC (0.17%) charge a small fraction of that.
• Small asset base and thin trading. Spreads can widen, so limit orders and a look at the quote matter more here than with a giant index fund.
• Shorts cut both ways. When a shorted stock rises, the loss is not capped the way a long position's is, and borrowing those shares carries its own cost.sec.gov

Full HBDC profile⁠

Full LSEQ profile⁠