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FAAR vs CTA

First Trust Alternative Absolute Return Strategy ETF vs Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF

FAAR

First Trust Alternative Absolute Return Strategy ETF

First Trust

Annual cost

0.98%

Fund size

$168M

CTA

Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF

Simplify Asset Management

Annual cost

0.75%

Fund size

$1.7B

Key differences

  • CTA costs 0.23% less per year.
  • CTA is significantly larger than FAAR — larger funds tend to be more liquid and less likely to close.
  • FAAR follows a long short strategy; CTA uses systematic alpha.
  • Over the last 3 years, CTA has delivered higher annualized returns.
  • FAAR has a longer track record, which may reduce uncertainty around long-term behavior.

Side-by-side comparison

FAARCTA
Annual cost (TER)0.98%0.75%
Fund size (AUM)$168M$1.7B
Since20162022
Dividend yield9.07%4.03%
Asset classalternativealternative
Regionnorth america
Strategylong shortsystematic alpha
CAGR 1Y+41.1%+16.5%
CAGR 3Y+12.0%+13.4%
CAGR 5Y+8.5%N/A
Sharpe 3Y0.740.66
Volatility 1Y13.44%19.72%
Max drawdown-18.03%-18.07%

Green dot indicates the better value for that metric. Performance data is historical and does not predict future results.

Similar to FAAR and CTA