HBDC vs SHRT

HBDCAHilton BDC Corporate Bond ETF

SHRTDGotham Short Strategies 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.

SHRT One of the few ETFs built to lean against the market: Gotham's stock pickers run a long book and a bigger short book, targeting roughly 50% net short US equity exposure.

Stated mandate

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

SHRT The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation and positive returns during declining markets. It actively manages long and short equity and equity-related positions, primarily in companies traded on U.S. markets, targeting approximately 50% net short exposure.

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

• SHRT Net short by design, not by inverse swap: an actively picked book of US longs and shorts aiming for about 50% net short exposure.
• Run by Gotham Asset Management, the firm where Joel Greenblatt is a managing principal and co-CIO, so the short book is stock selection, not a market-wide bet.sec.gov
• Honest scorecard: shareholder reports measure it against both the S&P 500 Total Return Index and a 50% inverse of that index, the two yardsticks that actually fit the mandate.sec.gov
• History predates the ticker. The strategy dates to 2008 and ran as a mutual fund until a reorganization after the close on November 3, 2023 turned it into an ETF.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.

• SHRT Costs 1.35%, with no fee waiver in place, above the alternatives category median. FLSP, a systematic multi-strategy peer, charges 0.65%.
• A small, thinly traded fund, so spreads can be wide and larger orders can move the price.
• Leaning short cuts both ways: the net short target is built to work in falling markets and to fight rising ones, and short positions carry borrow costs.sec.gov

Full HBDC profile⁠

Full SHRT profile⁠