TRFM vs YNOT

TRFMAAAM Transformers ETF

YNOTDHorizon Digital Frontier ETF

In short

TRFM Most disruption funds buy the story. TRFM screens for companies actually writing R&D checks, then spreads the theme across a couple hundred US-listed names instead of a concentrated bet on thirty.

YNOT Most innovation funds just buy the obvious winners. YNOT sorts emerging-tech companies into four phases, from the chipmakers enabling a technology to the businesses that eventually use it, and actively shifts money along that chain.

Stated mandate

TRFM The Fund passively tracks the total return of the Pence Transformers Index before fees and expenses. The index targets U.S.-listed equity securities of companies positioned to benefit from significant changes in consumer behavior and technological innovation.

YNOT The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities of companies operating in digital and technology sectors, emphasizing firms involved in digital innovation and transformation.

Why people hold it

• TRFM Candidates are screened on research-and-development spending, so names earn a slot with budget receipts, not just a narrative.nasdaq.com
• 0.49% a year, below the typical fee in its disruptive-innovation cohort, and it follows a published index rather than a manager's hunches.
• Modified equal weighting across a couple hundred holdings keeps any single mega-cap from quietly becoming the whole theme.stockanalysis.com
• Sits among the strongest implementations in its disruptive-innovation peer group on our review.

• YNOT The phase map is the whole idea: enablers, the infrastructure layer, the companies monetizing products, and the firms using the tech to cut costs. Managers decide where along that chain to lean.dividend.comhorizoninvestments.com
• Actively managed and global by design: US and non-US stocks, ADRs, even other ETFs are in bounds, so the portfolio isn't bolted to one index committee's definition of innovation.yahoo.com
• Roughly 100 names, screened on growth, value, momentum, quality, size and volatility. A multi-factor filter sits on top of the theme rather than pure story-stock picking.dividend.com

Worth knowing

• TRFM Not the cheapest door into the theme. Broader innovation rivals such as KOMP carry a lower expense ratio.
• Trades thinly next to the category's giants, so the bid-ask spread can matter more to your cost than the fee does.
• Launched in 2022, so the track record is short, and the index stays US-listed (ADRs count) rather than buying foreign shares directly.stockanalysis.com

• YNOT The active framework carries an active price: 0.75% a year, above the middle of its thematic peer group, where several of the best-regarded options charge less (KOMP 0.20%, XT 0.46%).
• Non-diversified by charter, so a small group of holdings can steer results. It's also a small, thinly traded fund, which tends to mean wider spreads than the category's household names.yahoo.com
• The record starts in July 2025, so there's little history to judge the phase model through a full cycle. The mandate is capital appreciation, not income.

Full TRFM profile⁠

Full YNOT profile⁠