QAI vs QALT

QAIANYLI Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF

QALTASEI DBi Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF

In short

QAI The original hedge fund replication ETF, listed in 2009: a fund of roughly 50 exchange-traded products tracking an index built to mimic hedge fund styles, for 0.81% net of a fee waiver (1.03% gross).

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

QAI The Fund seeks to track the performance of the IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Index before fees and expenses. It uses passive indexing and invests primarily in exchange-traded products and related financial instruments representing the index.

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

• QAI Billed as the first US-listed hedge fund replication ETF when it launched in March 2009, so it carries a record across multiple market cycles rather than a backtest.asiaasset.com
• Costs 0.81% net of a fee waiver (1.03% gross), below the alternatives category median and under IALT's 0.99%.
• Plain plumbing for an exotic idea: it holds exchange-traded products and related instruments to passively track the IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Index, and trades on an exchange all day.
• Stands near the front of the roughly 30 alternatives funds in its peer group on our review.

• 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

• QAI Fund-of-funds design means your exposure runs through other ETFs and the index's mapping of them to hedge fund styles, with gross expenses of 1.03% against the 0.81% net line.
• Cheaper shelves sit nearby: FLSP at 0.65% and HBDC at 0.39%, though neither runs the same multi-strategy replication mandate.
• Moderately traded rather than a category volume leader, and payouts arrive annually or semiannually, so this is not an income-cadence vehicle.

• 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 QAI profile⁠

Full QALT profile⁠