Over the year to October 6, 2026, ETFIQ tracked 57 alternatives ETFs through the 24 weeks in which the S&P 500 fell, an average drop of 1.13% in those weeks. Twelve of the 57 funds rose, on average, during those same weeks, and across all 57 the median fund's down-week capture was 40%, meaning the typical fund moved about two-fifths as much as the index on the way down. These funds are generally sold on the idea that they behave differently from stocks when stocks are falling, and the capture numbers show what that difference looked like in practice over this period.
The behavior varied widely by strategy, which is why the by-strategy table is worth reading before the fund list. Hedged equity, the largest group with 20 funds, had a median correlation of +0.91 with the S&P 500 and a median down-week capture of 59.5%, with only 3 of 20 funds rising in down weeks. Managed futures, the second largest group with 17 funds, had a much lower median correlation of +0.46 and a median capture of 36.0%, with 4 of 17 rising. Long-short equity's 8 funds showed a median correlation of +0.64 and capture of 57.7%. Multi-strategy, event driven, market neutral and global macro each had smaller counts, and their numbers ranged further: market neutral's two funds had a median correlation of −0.38 and a median capture of −83.8%, both funds rising in down weeks, while global macro's single fund had a correlation of +0.85 and a capture of 88.3%, finishing without a down-week gain.
At the individual fund level, the range was wide. BTAL, a market neutral fund, had a correlation of −0.69 and an average return of +1.55% in weeks the S&P 500 fell, for a down-week capture of −136.9%. At the other end, QTR, a hedged equity fund, had a correlation of +0.92 and an average return of −1.62% in those same weeks, a capture of 143.1%. Between these extremes sit funds such as CTA (managed futures, −66.0% capture), FLSP (multi-strategy, −20.0% capture) and MRGR (event driven, −10.4% capture), each reflecting a different relationship to the broader equity market's declines.
Holding up during down weeks is a separate question from whether a fund kept pace with cash over the full year. Of the 57 funds, 45 finished ahead of T-bills over the same 52 weeks, and among the 12 funds that rose during down weeks, 8 also finished ahead of T-bills. Some funds combined a negative down-week capture with a result behind T-bills, such as TAIL, which had a capture of −8.0% but finished 18.9 points behind T-bills, and QBER, with a capture of −15.2% and a result 3.9 points behind T-bills. Others, like KMLM, posted both a negative capture (−52.7%) and a result 19.1 points ahead of T-bills.
Readers working with the live desk can look up any ticker in the full table to check its own correlation, down-week capture and T-bill comparison number directly.