HECA vs IRTR

HECACHedgeye Capital Allocation ETF

IRTRAiShares LifePath Retirement ETF

In short

HECA A research shop's macro call, wrapped in an ETF. Hedgeye actively shifts among stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies (mostly via other ETFs) and writes a 15% peak-to-trough NAV drawdown limit into its own objective, which the prospectus does not guarantee.

IRTR A whole retirement portfolio in one ticker: global stock and bond ETFs blended at the conservative end, for 0.08% a year. That is index-fund pricing on a job most allocation funds charge roughly ten times more to do.

Stated mandate

HECA The Fund actively allocates among equities, bonds and other debt instruments, commodities, and currencies, primarily through ETFs. It seeks to maximize returns over rolling 12-month periods while limiting peak-to-trough NAV declines to 15%, without guaranteeing that outcome.

IRTR The fund seeks conservative exposure through a broad portfolio of stock and bond ETFs spanning global asset classes.

Why people hold it

• HECA The mandate is built around drawdowns, not a fixed 60/40: it aims to maximize returns over rolling 12-month periods while holding peak-to-trough NAV declines to 15%.sec.gov
• Four asset classes in one ticker: equities, bonds and other debt, commodities and currencies, held largely through other ETFs, so the mix can rotate as the macro view changes.
• Run by Hedgeye Asset Management, which applies its own macro research and risk framework here instead of licensing an outside index, an unusual setup in a category dominated by static blends.hedgeye.com

• IRTR Costs 0.08% a year against a 0.78% median for allocation funds. Roughly a tenth of the going rate for a portfolio-in-a-box.
• One line item, global coverage. The fund holds a spread of stock and bond ETFs across asset classes, so the mixing happens inside the wrapper.ishares.com
• Distributions come monthly rather than quarterly.
• One of the strongest all-in-one allocation funds in its peer group, and the cheapest of that top tier: iShares' own AOA runs 0.19%.

Worth knowing

• HECA Active judgment costs 0.81%, with no fee waiver and above the category median; index-built peers such as AOA (0.15% net of a waiver through November 30, 2026) and IRTR (0.08%) sit far lower.
• The 15% drawdown figure is a target the fund states it cannot promise, and a discretionary macro call can trail a plain stock-and-bond mix when markets simply run.
• Launched in 2025, so the track record is short next to allocation funds with decades behind them, and it distributes only once or twice a year.

• IRTR Thinly traded. Spreads can run wider than on household-name ETFs, so limit orders matter more here.
• Launched in 2023, so the track record is short and the fund is still building scale.
• Conservative by construction: it is built to move less than an all-stock portfolio, and that cuts in both directions.ishares.com

Full HECA profile⁠

Full IRTR profile⁠