Which returned more over the last year, FTLS or TLT?

In the year to Sep 19, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTLS returned +11.9% and TLT returned −4.7%, so FTLS returned more.

Which is cheaper, FTLS or TLT?

FTLS charges 1.38% a year and TLT charges 0.15%, so TLT is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Are FTLS and TLT the same kind of fund?

No. FTLS 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.

Data as of Sep 19, 2026.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

FTLS vs TLT: how they differ

Over the year FTLS returned more, +11.9% to TLT's −4.7%, and TLT charges 0.15% to FTLS's 1.38%.

First Trust Long/Short Equity and iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF.

FTLS and TLT on the fields both publish, as of Sep 19, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	FTLS First Trust Long/Short Equity	TLT iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF
Where it sits	Alternatives ETF	Core fund
Issuer	First Trust	iShares
What it is	Long-short equity	Tracks an index of 20+ year Treasuries
Total return, 1 year	+11.9%	−4.7%
S&P 500 over the same days	+16.6%	+16.6%
Gap to the S&P 500	−4.7 pts	−21.3 pts
Expense ratio	1.38%	0.15%
Holdings	not filed	49
Net assets	$2.6bn	$46.7bn

FTLS in plain words

FTLS is a long-short equity 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 +0.77 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.44, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.44% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 22 of those 52 weeks, by 1.24% on average. In the same weeks FTLS fell 0.52% on average, a down-week capture of 42.3%. Over the same 52 weeks FTLS returned +11.4% and a Treasury bill fund +3.6%, so it finished 7.7 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, FTLS or TLT?: In the year to Sep 19, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTLS returned +11.9% and TLT returned −4.7%, so FTLS returned more.
Which is cheaper, FTLS or TLT?: FTLS charges 1.38% a year and TLT charges 0.15%, so TLT is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are FTLS and TLT the same kind of fund?: No. FTLS 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.

FTLS against TLT, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 19, 2026. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, FTLS against TLT, data as of Sep 19, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftls-vs-tlt Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources