IFV vs PTLC

IFVDFirst Trust Dorsey Wright International Focus 5 ETF

PTLCAPacer Trendpilot US Large Cap ETF

In short

IFV Most international index funds spread you across dozens of countries. IFV holds five: whichever First Trust country and region ETFs show the strongest relative price momentum, equal-weighted, picked by rules rather than manager hunches.

PTLC Most index funds ride out every drawdown. PTLC tracks an index with an exit ramp: a rules-based trend signal that shifts its large-cap exposure toward 3-month Treasury bills and back, with no manager judgment in the loop.

Stated mandate

IFV The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield of the Dorsey Wright International Focus Five Index. The index selects five First Trust international country- or region-based ETFs using relative-strength momentum and equal-weights them.

PTLC The Fund seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of the Pacer Trendpilot US Large Cap Index. That index uses a rules-based trend-following approach that alternates exposure between equities and 3-Month US Treasury bills.

Why people hold it

• IFV Momentum with a rulebook: Dorsey Wright's relative strength screen picks the five holdings, so country bets shift on a formula, not a manager's read of the news.ftportfolios.com
• One ticket covers a rotating set of single-country and regional funds, a trade that would otherwise mean owning and swapping several positions yourself.ftportfolios.com
• Trading since 2014, so the rules have run in live markets, through calm and chaos, rather than only on a backtest.

• PTLC The switch is mechanical. A rules-based trend signal alternates exposure between US large-cap equities and 3-month Treasury bills, so nobody is making a gut call mid-panic.paceretfs.com
• Underneath the signal sits plain large-cap America: roughly 500 stocks benchmarked to the S&P 500, not a niche factor slice.paceretfs.com
• Trading since 2015 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, so the rules have run through live markets, not just backtests.
• Among the index-tracking funds we cover, it lands in the upper half, and it follows its own index closely.

Worth knowing

• IFV The 1.14% expense ratio sits well above the roughly 0.45% median for index-tracking funds in its peer group, and far above broad global options like VT at 0.06%.
• Five equal-weighted holdings is concentrated by design: leadership rotates, and the portfolio can end up parked in a handful of markets, with currency moves along for the ride.ftportfolios.com
• The menu is First Trust's own international country and region ETFs, so the screen ranks one issuer's lineup rather than every fund on the market.ftportfolios.com

• PTLC 0.60% a year is real money next to vanilla large-cap trackers like SCHK (0.03%) or VOOV (0.07%). The trend rules are what the extra buys.
• Trend signals read past prices. Moves into T-bills, or back into stocks, arrive after a market shift is already underway rather than ahead of it.
• Distributions land once or twice a year, so it isn't structured as a steady income drip.

Full IFV profile⁠

Full PTLC profile⁠