LALT vs QALT

LALTBFirst Trust Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF

QALTASEI DBi Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF

In short

LALT Most funds in this corner run one playbook: trend. LALT is the sampler plate, an actively managed mix of alternative strategies from First Trust, built to move differently from stocks and bonds. The variety costs extra.

QALT One ticker, several hedge fund playbooks: SEI stacks sub-advisers running directional, event-driven and arbitrage strategies, and measures itself against 3-month T-bills instead of the S&P 500. It undercuts the typical alternatives fund on fees.

Stated mandate

LALT The Fund seeks long-term total return through active allocation among alternative asset categories and strategies intended to provide diversification and lower correlation with traditional equity and fixed-income benchmarks.

QALT The fund seeks positive absolute returns across market cycles with reduced correlation to stocks and bonds. It pursues this through multiple underlying funds and sub-advisers using directional or tactical, event-driven, and arbitrage approaches.

Why people hold it

• LALT Actively allocates across several alternative categories instead of riding a single trend model, with a stated aim of lower correlation to equity and fixed-income benchmarks.
• Its cohort is stacked with single-lane trend followers (DBMF, CTA, ASMF). The multi-strategy mandate is what sets LALT apart from that shelf.
• A First Trust product with hundreds of millions in assets and a quarterly distribution schedule, traded like any ordinary listed fund.

• QALT Charges 0.80% a year against a 1.07% median for alternatives funds. Multi-manager hedge fund exposure usually bills more than that.
• Not a one-trick fund. Directional or tactical, event-driven and arbitrage sleeves run side by side through several underlying funds and sub-advisers.
• The yardstick is 3-month T-bills, the cash hurdle hedge funds get judged on. The stated aim is positive absolute return with reduced correlation to stocks and bonds.
• Screens near the top of its alternatives peer group, and comes in under pricier multi-strategy options such as HFGM and HDG at 0.95%.

Worth knowing

• LALT At 1.18% a year it runs above the peer median of 0.95%, and above trend rivals CTA (0.75%), ASMF (0.80%) and DBMF (0.85%).
• No index to grade it against. Outcomes ride on the manager's allocation calls, and with a 2023 launch the track record is still short.
• Built to behave unlike stocks and bonds, which is the point in choppy stretches and the trade-off when traditional markets are running hot.

• QALT Launched in 2025, so there is no long record showing how this manager lineup behaves through a full market cycle.
• Trading is thin next to big index ETFs, which can mean wider spreads when you get in or out.
• Not the cheapest seat in the aisle: RNMN (0.59%) and CCEF (0.74%) charge less, though each runs a narrower strategy set than a multi-manager book.

Full LALT profile⁠

Full QALT profile⁠