Answered from ETFIQ data as of .
Do alternatives ETFs diversify a stock portfolio?
Some do, and most only partly. Of the 63 alternatives ETFs ETFIQ measured over the year to Sep 18, 2026, 20 rose on average in the weeks the S&P 500 fell, 37 fell less than the index and 6 fell as much or more.
Diversifying means moving differently from what you already own, and ETFIQ measures it two ways from 52 weekly returns. Correlation says how closely a fund’s weeks moved with the S&P 500’s. Down-week capture is its average return in the weeks the index fell, as a share of the index’s own average.
Neither says whether the fund made money. A fund can rise when stocks fall and still earn less than cash, so every page prints its return against T-bills beside them: 50 of the 63 finished ahead of T-bills over the same weeks.
One year is one set of markets. The S&P 500 fell in 22 of those 52 weeks, and the next fall will not look like these.
On ETFIQ today
| Ticker | Fund | Strategy | Correlation | Down-week capture | Against T-bills |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HELO | JPMorgan Hedged Equity Laddered Overlay | Hedged equity | +0.95 | 56.2% | +3.3 pts |
| DBMF | iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF | Managed futures | +0.26 | −16.8% | +21.7 pts |
| FTLS | First Trust Long/Short Equity | Long-short equity | +0.77 | 42.3% | +7.7 pts |
| ACIO | Aptus Collared Investment Opportunity ET | Hedged equity | +0.98 | 80.3% | +4.4 pts |
| CTA | Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF | Managed futures | −0.26 | −78.5% | +10.1 pts |
| FLSP | Franklin Systematic Style Premia ETF | Multi-strategy | +0.01 | −12.6% | +10.1 pts |
| FHEQ | Fidelity Hedged Equity ETF | Hedged equity | +0.97 | 92.2% | +6.9 pts |
| QAI | NYLIM Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF | Multi-strategy | +0.85 | 34.0% | +5.4 pts |
| CAOS | Alpha Architect Tail Risk ETF | Hedged equity | −0.40 | −6.2% | −2.6 pts |
| HEGD | Swan Hedged Equity US Large Cap ETF | Hedged equity | +0.97 | 60.2% | +4.7 pts |
| CLSE | Convergence Long/Short Equity ETF | Long-short equity | +0.63 | 36.5% | +29.5 pts |
| KMLM | KraneShares Mount Lucas Managed Futures | Managed futures | −0.24 | −60.3% | +16.1 pts |
Where to next
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.
ETFIQ is an independent publisher of exchange-traded fund data and makes no recommendations. Every figure is calculated from published data. Standards and sources
Cite this page. ETFIQ, Do alternatives ETFs diversify a stock portfolio?, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/questions/do-alternatives-etfs-diversify Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.