LGH vs PTBD

LGHBHCM Defender 500 Index ETF

PTBDAPacer Trendpilot US Bond ETF

In short

LGH A 500-stock US large-cap index with an eject button. HCM's own trend model can cut equity exposure to 70/30, 40/60 or all cash, then waits for the market to close back above the line before buying in again. Fee: 1.00% a year.

PTBD Trend following, pointed at bonds instead of stocks. A published rulebook shifts PTBD between high yield corporates and intermediate Treasuries as their relative strength changes, dialing credit risk up or down by formula rather than by opinion.

Stated mandate

LGH The Fund seeks to track the HCM Defender 500 Index before fees and expenses. Its index generally uses large-capitalization U.S. equities but can reduce exposure through 70/30, 40/60, or all-cash positions as market conditions change.

PTBD The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Pacer Trendpilot US Bond Index through a rules-based strategy that alternates between high-yield corporate bonds and U.S. Treasury bonds.

Why people hold it

• LGH The exit ramp is the product. A trend signal, not a manager's gut, decides when the index steps down from full equity to 70/30, 40/60 or all cash, and re-entry requires five straight closes back above the line.howardcm.com
• Self-indexed and founder-run: Howard Capital Management sponsors, builds and maintains the index itself, and the firm's founder has been the portfolio manager since the fund began operations in 2019.howardcm.com
• One of the better-built options in a crowded tactical-allocation field of dozens of funds, with years of live record behind the signal rather than a backtest.

• PTBD The rulebook is public and mechanical: high yield measured against Treasuries, compared to its 100-day average, with five straight closes needed to confirm. No manager hunch involved.paceretfs.com
• 0.60% a year, comfortably below the median for tactical multi-asset funds. Cheap for a strategy that does the reallocating for you.
• Holds roughly 1,000 bonds in whichever sleeve the signal points to, so no single issuer carries much weight. Income is distributed monthly.
• Trading since 2019, long enough to have run the rules through a rate shock and a credit wobble, and it sits in the upper tier of the tactical funds we cover.

Worth knowing

• LGH 1.00% a year sits above the category median fee, and well above peers like ENDW at 0.22% or PBL at 0.45%. That is active-manager pricing for a rules-based overlay.
• Trend models move late by design. The index only de-risks after the market has already fallen below the line, and only re-risks after five confirming closes, so it can hold cash while stocks are climbing.howardcm.com
• Equity exposure can come indirectly, through derivatives, other funds and leveraged ETFs, which adds plumbing most plain index funds do not carry.sec.govhowardcm.com

• PTBD Trend rules react, they don't anticipate. A sharp reversal can flip the signal after the move has happened, and the confirmation window means the switch lands days later.paceretfs.com
• In its risk-on position the portfolio is high yield corporate debt, full stop. That is credit risk, a different animal from Treasury rate risk.paceretfs.com
• Not one of the heavily traded names in its category, so the spread and a limit order matter more here than with a mega-fund.

Full LGH profile⁠

Full PTBD profile⁠