HIPS vs INCM

HIPSDGraniteShares HIPS US High Income ETF

INCMAFranklin Income Focus ETF

In short

HIPS HIPS shops in a corner most index funds skip: a roughly 40-name basket of US pass-through securities, screened for lower volatility, paying out monthly. Income mandate first, cheap beta second.

INCM A go-anywhere income hunt in ETF form: Franklin's managers roam across asset classes chasing current income, hold roughly 400 positions, charge 0.38%, and pay out monthly.

Stated mandate

HIPS The fund passively seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the EQM High Income Pass-Through Securities Index, using replication or representative sampling of its components.

INCM The fund seeks a high level of current income, with long-term capital appreciation as a secondary objective.

Why people hold it

• HIPS One ticket to the pass-through corner of the US market: it tracks the EQM High Income Pass-Through Securities Index instead of a plain-vanilla stock benchmark.graniteshares.com
• Distributions land monthly, which matches how income spenders actually budget.
• Rules first: passive replication or sampling of the index, with a volatility screen written into the methodology rather than left to a manager's discretion.graniteshares.com
• Live since 2015, so this is a seasoned niche product with a decade-plus track record, not a fresh launch chasing a theme.

• INCM Charges 0.38%, well under the typical fund in its multi-asset allocation group. More of the income stays with shareholders.
• Distributes monthly, matching the rhythm of actual bills. Current income is the stated primary objective, with capital appreciation secondary.
• Spreads the income job across roughly 400 positions instead of leaning on a short list of high yielders.
• Trades smoothly for a multi-billion-dollar fund, and rates as one of the stronger implementations in its allocation peer group.

Worth knowing

• HIPS Cost is the headline trade-off: 1.17% a year against a 0.45% median for index trackers in its peer group, one of the steepest fees among them.
• Concentrated by design: about 40 yield-heavy names, so a single holding or sector stumble carries far more weight than in a broad market fund.
• Smaller and only moderately traded next to mainstream index funds, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads at the moment you place an order.

• INCM Actively managed with no declared index, so the asset mix and the payout reflect manager judgment rather than a published rulebook you can check against.
• The mandate targets a high level of current income, not a fixed dollar amount, so the monthly distribution moves with markets.
• Index-based allocation peers such as AOA and IRTR carry lower expense ratios. Here the fee buys active security selection instead of a set glide path.

Full HIPS profile⁠

Full INCM profile⁠