LSEQ vs QALT

LSEQDHarbor Long-Short Equity ETF (LSEQ)

QALTASEI DBi Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF

In short

LSEQ A hedge fund playbook in an ETF shell: LSEQ buys the large and mid caps it likes and shorts the ones it doesn't, keeping net long exposure usually between 40% and 60%. Roughly half-invested by design, with room to stretch to 150% long.

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

LSEQ The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital through long and short positions in equity securities. It generally maintains net long exposure of 40% to 60%, with exposure occasionally reaching 150% long.

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

• LSEQ Shorting is the point, not a garnish. The fund runs a long book and a short book across Russell 1000 large and mid caps, so both sides of the trade drive the outcome.sec.gov
• Net exposure has guardrails: normally 40% to 60% long, with room to stretch to 150%. You always know roughly how much market you are carrying.sec.gov
• Hedge fund mechanics without the hedge fund gates: a 1940 Act fund that trades on an exchange, with published holdings, no lockups and no accreditation test.sec.gov
• Active from the ground up: about 160 positions, picked stock by stock rather than tracked, inside a single US large and mid cap universe.sec.gov

• 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

• LSEQ Costs 2.28% a year against a 0.65% median for active US equity funds. Core rivals like DFAU (0.12%) and DFAC (0.17%) charge a small fraction of that.
• Small asset base and thin trading. Spreads can widen, so limit orders and a look at the quote matter more here than with a giant index fund.
• Shorts cut both ways. When a shorted stock rises, the loss is not capped the way a long position's is, and borrowing those shares carries its own cost.sec.gov

• 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 LSEQ profile⁠

Full QALT profile⁠