QAI vs SHRT

QAIANYLI Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF

SHRTDGotham Short Strategies 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).

SHRT One of the few ETFs built to lean against the market: Gotham's stock pickers run a long book and a bigger short book, targeting roughly 50% net short US equity exposure.

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.

SHRT The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation and positive returns during declining markets. It actively manages long and short equity and equity-related positions, primarily in companies traded on U.S. markets, targeting approximately 50% net short exposure.

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.

• SHRT Net short by design, not by inverse swap: an actively picked book of US longs and shorts aiming for about 50% net short exposure.
• Run by Gotham Asset Management, the firm where Joel Greenblatt is a managing principal and co-CIO, so the short book is stock selection, not a market-wide bet.sec.gov
• Honest scorecard: shareholder reports measure it against both the S&P 500 Total Return Index and a 50% inverse of that index, the two yardsticks that actually fit the mandate.sec.gov
• History predates the ticker. The strategy dates to 2008 and ran as a mutual fund until a reorganization after the close on November 3, 2023 turned it into an ETF.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.

• SHRT Costs 1.35%, with no fee waiver in place, above the alternatives category median. FLSP, a systematic multi-strategy peer, charges 0.65%.
• A small, thinly traded fund, so spreads can be wide and larger orders can move the price.
• Leaning short cuts both ways: the net short target is built to work in falling markets and to fight rising ones, and short positions carry borrow costs.sec.gov

Full QAI profile⁠

Full SHRT profile⁠