QAI vs QIS

QAIANYLI Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF

QISDSimplify Multi-QIS 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).

QIS Investment banks build quant 'risk premia' strategies for pensions and hedge funds. QIS packages a basket of those third-party strategies into an ETF, using total return swaps, aiming for returns that move independently of stocks and bonds.

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.

QIS The fund seeks positive absolute returns and income by investing in a diversified portfolio of quantitative strategies intended to provide an uncorrelated positive source of returns.

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.

• QIS Gets its exposure through total return swaps on third-party bank quant strategies spanning equities, interest rates, commodities and currencies.sec.govsimplify.us
• The mandate is absolute return and income from strategies meant to be uncorrelated with the rest of a portfolio, not to shadow an index.simplify.us
• Delivered in a plain 1940 Act ETF: daily liquidity, no lockups or capital calls, for a strategy set normally sold through institutional swap desks.sec.gov

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.

• QIS At 1.21% a year it runs above the typical alternatives ETF, and cheaper peers exist: QALT at 0.80% and RNMN at 0.59%.
• Returns ride on swap counterparties and outside models, so the drivers are less visible than a stock fund's holdings list.sec.gov
• Launched in 2023, small and thinly traded next to the bigger alternatives funds, so the track record is short and execution costs can bite.

Full QAI profile⁠

Full QIS profile⁠