Data as of Sep 19, 2026.
FMF vs TLT: how they differ
Over the year FMF returned more, +15.7% to TLT's −4.7%, and TLT charges 0.15% to FMF's 0.98%.
First Trust Managed Futures Strategy Fund and iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF.
| FMF First Trust Managed Futures Strategy Fund | TLT iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Alternatives ETF | Core fund |
| Issuer | First Trust | iShares |
| What it is | Managed futures | Tracks an index of 20+ year Treasuries |
| Total return, 1 year | +15.7% | −4.7% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +16.6% | +16.6% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | −0.9 pts | −21.3 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.98% | 0.15% |
| Holdings | not filed | 49 |
| Net assets | $288m | $46.7bn |
FMF in plain words
FMF is a managed futures fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.18 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.12, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.12% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 22 of those 52 weeks, by 1.24% on average. In the same weeks FMF rose 0.20% on average, a down-week capture of −16.2%. Over the same 52 weeks FMF returned +15.3% and a Treasury bill fund +3.6%, so it finished 11.7 percentage points ahead of cash.
TLT in plain words
TLT tracks an index of 20+ year Treasuries. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026 it returned −4.7% with distributions reinvested, against +16.6% for the S&P 500 and +21.8% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. It sat 42.6% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Sep 18, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, FMF or TLT?
- In the year to Sep 19, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FMF returned +15.7% and TLT returned −4.7%, so FMF returned more.
- Which is cheaper, FMF or TLT?
- FMF charges 0.98% a year and TLT charges 0.15%, so TLT is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- Are FMF and TLT the same kind of fund?
- No. FMF is an alternatives ETF and TLT is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.
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Where these figures came from
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, FMF against TLT, data as of Sep 19, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fmf-vs-tlt Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
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