HUSV vs TOAK

HUSVCFirst Trust Horizon Managed Volatility Domestic ETF

TOAKATwin Oak Short Horizon Absolute Return ETF

In short

HUSV Most low-vol funds rank stocks on the calm they already showed. HUSV pays Horizon Investments to forecast it instead, then weights hardest toward the names its models expect to move least.

TOAK Shelved with low-volatility equity funds, TOAK owns no stocks. It runs a paired options book with a zero-to-one-year horizon, each position's maximum loss limited to the premium paid, at 0.26% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027.

Stated mandate

HUSV The Fund seeks capital appreciation by investing at least 80% of net assets in domestic common stocks that the sub-advisor expects to have relatively low volatility.

TOAK The Fund seeks capital appreciation with low price volatility, which the Adviser describes as stable returns. It pursues this through defined-risk options intended to generate an absolute return over a short, zero-to-one-year duration.

Why people hold it

• HUSV The engine looks forward, not back: Horizon's models rank US-listed stocks by expected future volatility, and the calmest forecasts get the biggest weights.sec.gov
• Quantitative at the core, human at the edges. The sub-advisor can flex the number of holdings, the weightings and how aggressive the low-vol tilt runs as markets shift.sec.gov
• A compact book of roughly 80 domestic stocks, with a mandate to keep at least 80% of net assets in US common shares. Easy to see what you actually own.
• Trading since 2016, so the approach has been through real drawdowns rather than a backtest. Pays quarterly.

• TOAK Defined risk is written into the strategy: the most any single option position can lose in an expiry period is the premium paid, and the fund states it uses no leverage and sells no naked options.sec.gov
• 0.26% net of a waiver through September 30, 2027 (0.46% gross) sits below the category median and under peers such as LOWV at 0.39% and SIXL at 0.46%.
• Long calls are always paired with long puts (and call spreads with put spreads), legs that tend to move against each other. That pairing is the stated engine behind the low-volatility half of the mandate.sec.gov
• Different wiring from its shelf-mates: an absolute-return options sleeve on broad US equity exposure rather than a screened basket of defensive stocks, and it stands in the upper half of that peer group.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• HUSV 0.70% a year, above the median for US low-vol funds, and the index-based rivals in the aisle (SELV, CGCV) charge well under that. Active forecasting is what the premium buys.
• Thinly traded, so spreads and order timing matter more here than in the aisle's household names.
• Low forecast volatility is an expectation, not a floor. This is a fully invested stock portfolio and it can fall with the market.sec.gov

• TOAK Launched in 2024, so the track record is short and covers only one market stretch. It is also a smaller fund than most names on this shelf.
• Thinly traded for its category, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the big liquid names. Limit orders matter more here.
• No income stream: the fund has not been paying distributions, so whatever the options book produces shows up in share price, not as yield.

Full HUSV profile⁠

Full TOAK profile⁠