PTLC vs TRND

PTLCAPacer Trendpilot US Large Cap ETF

TRNDCPacer Trendpilot Fund of Funds ETF

In short

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.

TRND The whole Trendpilot family in one ticker: instead of picking which sleeve goes on trend autopilot, TRND holds Pacer's own trend-following ETFs across US large cap, mid cap, international and bonds.

Stated mandate

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.

TRND The Fund seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of the Pacer Trendpilot Fund of Funds Index.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• TRND Each underlying sleeve runs its own rule: 100% to its benchmark, 50/50 with 3-month T-bills, or all T-bills. The de-risking switch isn't one all-or-nothing call on the S&P 500.paceretfs.compaceretfs.com 2
• Rules, not hunches. Positions shift on 200-day moving average triggers confirmed over five business days, with no manager discretion over when to step aside.paceretfs.compaceretfs.com 2
• A fund of funds rebuilt at each quarterly rebalance from Pacer's own Trendpilot ETFs, so the trend call is spread across several markets instead of one.sec.gov
• Live since 2019, tracking a published index methodology rather than a black box.paceretfs.com

Worth knowing

• 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.

• TRND Stacking funds costs more: 0.77%, no waiver, above the category median. Owning a single sleeve directly runs less (PTLC and PTMC are 0.60% each).
• Signals confirm before they act, so a sharp dip and fast rebound can see sleeves move to T-bills late and return to the market late.paceretfs.compaceretfs.com 2
• Thinly traded for its category, so bid-ask spreads are a bigger slice of the cost of getting in and out than with the bigger Trendpilot sleeves.

Full PTLC profile⁠

Full TRND profile⁠