For educational purposes only. Nothing on this site constitutes investment advice. Disclaimers
ETFs
US-listed funds grouped by strategy. Each category below explains what these funds do and why they belong in an alpha stacking portfolio.
Return Stacked — 2×
Funds that hold roughly 1× equity and 1× an alternative sleeve (managed futures, macro, commodities) on the same dollar, using futures or swaps.
RSSB — Return Stacked® Global Stocks & Bonds ETF
Global equities stacked with a Treasury bond sleeve in one capital-efficient wrapper.
RSST — Return Stacked U.S. Stocks & Managed Futures ETF
For each $1 invested, ~$1 large-cap U.S. equity and ~$1 systematic managed futures (trend) exposure.
RSSY — Return Stacked U.S. Stocks & Futures Yield ETF
Large-cap U.S. equity stacked with a systematic futures yield (carry) sleeve.
MATE — Man Active Trend Enhanced ETF
100% S&P 500 beta stacked with 100% trend-following managed futures.
RSBT — Return Stacked Bonds & Managed Futures ETF
For each $1 invested, ~$1 broad U.S. bond exposure and ~$1 systematic managed futures trend exposure.
RSIT — Return Stacked International Stocks & Managed Futures ETF
For each $1 invested, ~$1 large-cap international equity and ~$1 systematic managed futures (trend) exposure.
Return Stacked — Lower Leverage
Similar to the 2× category but with a smaller alternative overlay relative to the equity sleeve — total notional is between 1× and 2×.
GDMN — WisdomTree Efficient Gold Plus Gold Miners Strategy Fund
Stacks gold miners equity with a leveraged gold-futures sleeve for a concentrated precious-metals expression.
GDE — WisdomTree Efficient Gold Plus Equity Strategy Fund
Capital-efficient sleeve: large-cap U.S. equities with a layered gold futures overlay (~90/90 notional).
NTSX — WisdomTree U.S. Efficient Core Fund
90/60 structure: U.S. equity core plus Treasury futures overlay.
HOLD — Harbor Alpha Layering ETF
Large-cap U.S. equity layered with a trend-following managed-futures sleeve.
NTSI — WisdomTree International Efficient Core Fund
90/60 structure: developed ex-U.S. equity core plus Treasury futures overlay.
NTSE — WisdomTree Emerging Markets Efficient Core Fund
90/60 structure: emerging-markets equity core plus Treasury futures overlay.
GDT — WisdomTree Efficient TIPS Plus Gold Fund
Inflation-linked Treasuries with a gold futures overlay in a lower-leverage efficient structure.
NTSD — WisdomTree Efficient U.S. Plus International Equity Fund
Capital-efficient 90/60 sleeve: U.S. large-cap equities plus developed international equity index futures.
WDIG — WisdomTree Efficient Rare Earth Plus Strategic Metals Fund
Pairs rare earth and strategic metals miners equity with a base-metals futures overlay for critical-minerals exposure.
Premia and systematic alternatives
Rules-based funds that harvest persistent return factors — value, carry, momentum, quality — across many markets simultaneously.
Factor - Momentum
Equity ETFs that tilt toward recent relative strength. They ride leadership while a trend persists and rotate when it breaks.
FMTM — MarketDesk Focused U.S. Momentum ETF
Active quantitative momentum: 30 to 50 large/mid-cap U.S. names on a shorter lookback that rotates between offense and defense.
SPMO — Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF
Tracks the S&P 500 Momentum Index—large-cap U.S. names with stronger risk-adjusted momentum scores.
STRN — SMART Trend 25 ETF
Quantitative momentum sleeve: ~25 liquid U.S. large caps selected for technical strength, with sector caps.
PTF — Invesco Dorsey Wright Technology Momentum ETF
Technology sector momentum strategy using Dorsey Wright relative-strength rules.
Factor - Value
Equity ETFs that tilt toward cheap, cash-generative companies, including free-cash-flow and small-cap value sleeves.
VFLO — VictoryShares Free Cash Flow ETF
Large-cap U.S. cash-cows sleeve: rules-based free-cash-flow yield vs. a broad large/mid benchmark.
COPY — Tweedy, Browne Insider + Value ETF
Global deep-value stock selection filtered for corporate insider buying and share buybacks.
AVDV — Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF
Systematic international small-cap value with profitability screens.
AVUV — Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF
Actively managed U.S. small-cap value: profitability, value, and investment discipline vs. Russell 2000 Value.
COWZ — Pacer U.S. Cash Cows 100 ETF
Rules-based U.S. large-cap free-cash-flow yield factor sleeve.
Factor - Concentrated active
High-conviction active managers running focused books, roughly 20 to 50 names selected bottom-up rather than tracking a factor index.
EMEQ — Nomura Focused Emerging Markets Equity ETF
Actively managed, high-conviction emerging-markets equity: a focused all-cap book selected bottom-up rather than tracking an EM index.
AFOS — ARS Focused Opportunities Strategy ETF
Active, concentrated U.S. equity: ~30 high-conviction names chosen for valuation margin of safety and secular-trend exposure.
SGRT — SMART Earnings Growth 30 ETF
Concentrated active U.S. large-cap: a roughly 30-name, quant-driven earnings-growth book run with no sector constraints.
SASS — M.D. Sass Concentrated Value ETF
Active, high-conviction U.S. large/mid value—roughly 20–25 names from Russell value universes, out-of-favor and misunderstood stories.
Managed futures
Trend-following funds that go long or short across equities, bonds, currencies, and commodities based on which direction prices are moving.
CTA — Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF
Systematic futures sleeve (Altis models) across equities, rates, commodities, and FX—low equity correlation.
DBMF — iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF
Seeks to replicate pre-fee managed-futures hedge fund exposures (SG CTA / factor approach) in an ETF wrapper.
KMLM — KraneShares Mount Lucas Managed Futures Index Strategy ETF
Rules-based trend following on the KFA MLM Index—commodity, currency, and global bond futures.
Managed futures - single asset
Systematic futures strategies that trade a single asset class instead of the full managed-futures mix. Currency carry and mean-reversion, or commodity long/short.
Long/short
Funds that hold long positions in stocks they expect to outperform and short positions in stocks they expect to underperform.
CLSE — Convergence Long/Short Equity ETF
Actively managed long/short U.S. equity (Convergence Investment Partners).
ORR — Militia Long/Short Equity ETF
Higher-turnover fundamental long/short global equity (Militia Investments).
VAMO — Cambria Value and Momentum ETF
Cambria's quantitative value and momentum U.S. equity fund with systematic tactical hedging via S&P 500 futures (Cambria Investment Management).
MEMA — Man Active Emerging Markets Alternative ETF
Actively managed emerging-markets long/short equity sleeve using systematic signals plus portfolio-manager discretion.
WTLS — WisdomTree Efficient Long/Short U.S. Equity Fund
Capital-efficient 90% U.S. large-cap equity paired with a 90% ML-driven long/short overlay in one wrapper (WisdomTree / AlphaBeta).
Global macro
Funds that take positions across currencies, interest rates, equities, and commodities based on macroeconomic themes and environment analysis.
Arbitrage
Merger arbitrage funds buy companies that have announced acquisition deals and short the acquirer, capturing the spread between the current stock price and the deal price. Returns are driven by deal completion rates and timelines, with low correlation to broad equity moves.
Leveraged equity ETFs
Daily-resetting funds that deliver 2× or 3× the daily return of a broad equity index. They amplify both gains and losses, and volatility drag means long-term returns don't simply scale with the multiple.
QLD — ProShares Ultra QQQ
2x daily Nasdaq-100 exposure with daily reset leverage.
TQQQ — ProShares UltraPro QQQ
3x daily Nasdaq-100 leverage for tactical growth-beta expression.
UPRO — ProShares UltraPro S&P500
3x daily S&P 500 exposure designed for tactical high-beta positioning.
SSO — ProShares Ultra S&P500
2x daily S&P 500 exposure via derivatives and daily reset leverage.
Fixed income
ETFs that invest in bonds, structured credit, and floating-rate instruments. Includes AAA CLO funds, investment-grade credit, and bond strategies used as collateral or yield sleeves in portfolio construction.
CLOA — iShares AAA CLO Active ETF
BlackRock iShares actively managed fund investing in USD-denominated AAA-rated CLO tranches for floating-rate structured credit income.
JAAA — Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF
Actively managed AAA-rated CLO tranche fund: floating-rate senior structured credit with near-zero duration and equity correlation.
Volatility
Instruments that express volatility risk without VIX futures drag. Includes tail-risk options structures that pay off in crash events and HFT market-makers whose revenue accelerates when spreads widen.
VIRT — Virtu Financial
The only pure-play HFT stock: market-making revenue accelerates when volatility spikes, without the roll drag that erodes traditional VIX ETFs over time.
CAOS — Alpha Architect Tail Risk ETF
S&P 500 option structures designed as a tail-risk / convexity sleeve alongside equity beta.
ATTR — Arin Tactical Tail Risk ETF
Actively managed U.S. large-cap exposure with tactical tail-risk options overlays aimed at drawdown mitigation.
Return Stacked - Crypto
ETFs providing exposure to bitcoin, ethereum, or a basket of digital assets.
SPBC — Simplify US Equity PLUS Bitcoin Strategy ETF
Simplify: 100% S&P 500 equity with a targeted ~10% spot bitcoin overlay via ETPs, rebalanced quarterly.
RSSX — Return Stacked U.S. Stocks & Gold/Bitcoin ETF
Return Stacked® line: large-cap U.S. equity stacked with gold and bitcoin sleeves.
WTIB — USCF Oil Plus Bitcoin Strategy Fund
Actively managed crude oil and bitcoin futures/ETP exposure with roughly balanced notional sleeves.
BTGD — STKd 100% Bitcoin & 100% Gold ETF
Stacked ~100% bitcoin and ~100% gold exposure via futures and ETPs (Quantify STKd).
BEGS — Rareview 2x Bull Cryptocurrency & Precious Metals ETF
Leveraged long exposure to a blended crypto and precious-metals sleeve (Rareview).
OOQB — One+One™ Nasdaq-100® and Bitcoin ETF
Volatility Shares: ~100% Nasdaq-100 and ~100% bitcoin futures exposure in one capital-efficient sleeve (listed as OOQB; often discussed as “QQQ + BTC”).
OOSB — One+One™ S&P 500® and Bitcoin ETF
Volatility Shares: ~100% S&P 500 and ~100% bitcoin futures, dual exposure similar to OOQB's structure.