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What alternatives ETFs did when stocks fell

Of the 67 alternatives ETFs ETFIQ measured over the year to Oct 12, 2026, 22 rose on average in the weeks the S&P 500 fell, and the median fund fell 33% as much as the index. These funds are sold on behaving differently from stocks, and this is that promise measured.

The S&P 500 fell in 23 of the 52 weeks, by 1.00% in its average down week. Down-week capture is a fund's own average in those weeks as a share of that, so below zero means it rose. Holding up is not the same as earning. 50 of the 67 finished ahead of T-bills over the same weeks, and 12 of the 22 that rose also did that. The strategies are not alike. The median hedged equity fund had a correlation of +0.88 with the S&P 500 and the median managed futures fund +0.25, so the table by strategy comes first.

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Every alternatives ETF, against the S&P 500

Rose when the S&P 500 fell, by strategy

3 of 21

8 of 17

5 of 9

1 of 8

1 of 6

2 of 3

2 of 2

0 of 1

22 of 67 alternatives ETFs rose on average in the weeks the S&P 500 fell, over the year to Oct 12, 2026.

ETFIQ Narrative

Over the year to October 12, 2026, ETFIQ measured 67 alternatives ETFs against the S&P 500's weekly moves. The index fell in 23 of the 52 weeks, down 1.00% on average in those weeks. Of the 67 funds, 22 rose on average in those same weeks, and the median fund across the group fell 33% as much as the index did, a number ETFIQ calls down-week capture. These funds are generally sold on the idea of behaving differently from stocks, and this is that claim checked against the record.

The strategies behind these funds are not alike, and the group medians show why. The median hedged equity fund carried a correlation of +0.88 with the S&P 500, while the median managed futures fund stood at +0.25. By strategy, hedged equity had 3 of its 21 funds rise in down weeks, with a median down-week capture of 54.1%. Managed futures had 8 of 17 funds rise, with a median capture of 3.3%. Volatility funds, as a group, had 5 of 9 rise, with a median capture of −58.1%, meaning the typical fund in that group moved opposite the index and by a wide margin. Long-short equity saw 1 of 8 funds rise, with a median capture of 50.8%. Multi-strategy had 1 of 6 rise, at a median of 24.5%. Event driven had 2 of 3 rise, at −9.6%. Market neutral had both of its 2 funds rise, at −69.8%. The single global macro fund did not rise in down weeks, with a capture of 70.9%.

Among individual funds, the widest swings against the index sat in the volatility group. UVXY averaged +2.84% in the weeks the S&P 500 fell, a capture of −283.8%, and VIXY and VXX showed similar patterns. At the other end, funds such as XTR and QTR moved further than the index itself, with captures of 98.4% and 148.9%.

Holding up in down weeks is not the same as earning money over the full year. Of the 67 funds, 50 finished ahead of T-bills over the same 52 weeks. Among the 22 funds that rose when the index fell, only 12 also beat T-bills. Some funds that moved opposite to stocks in down weeks still lagged the return available from holding short-term bills, a reminder that protection in falling weeks and a lead over cash are two separate measures, both shown in the tables rather than combined into one score.

Readers can look up any fund's own correlation, down-week capture, and gap against T-bills, along with its listed strategy, on ETFIQ's fund pages.

Ahead of T-bills, by strategy

15 of 21

16 of 17

4 of 9

7 of 8

5 of 6

1 of 3

1 of 2

1 of 1

50 of 67 alternatives ETFs finished ahead of T-bills over the year to Oct 12, 2026.

By strategy, most funds first

Points (pts) are percentage points.

By strategy, most funds first
Strategy	Funds	Rose when it fell	Median correlation	Median down-week capture	Ahead of T-bills
Hedged equity	21	3 of 21	+0.88	54.1%	15 of 21
Managed futures	17	8 of 17	+0.25	3.3%	16 of 17
Volatility	9	5 of 9	−0.60	−58.1%	4 of 9
Long-short equity	8	1 of 8	+0.65	50.8%	7 of 8
Multi-strategy	6	1 of 6	+0.28	24.5%	5 of 6
Event driven	3	2 of 3	+0.14	−9.6%	1 of 3
Market neutral	2	2 of 2	−0.42	−69.8%	1 of 2
Global macro	1	0 of 1	+0.78	70.9%	1 of 1

Every fund with a full year, held up best first

Every fund with a full year, held up best first
Ticker	Fund	Strategy	Correlation	Average week when SPY fell	Down-week capture	Against T-bills
UVXY	ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF	Volatility	−0.77	+2.84%	−283.8%	−74.9 pts
VIXY	ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF	Volatility	−0.77	+2.06%	−205.9%	−56.1 pts
VXX	iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Future	Volatility	−0.77	+2.01%	−201.2%	−55.4 pts
BTAL	AGF U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund	Market neutral	−0.63	+1.03%	−103.3%	−22.1 pts
CTA	Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF	Managed futures	−0.30	+0.68%	−68.0%	+4.9 pts
KMLM	KraneShares Mount Lucas Managed Futures Inde	Managed futures	−0.20	+0.67%	−66.8%	+17.5 pts
VIXM	ProShares VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF	Volatility	−0.60	+0.64%	−64.3%	−24.2 pts
VXZ	iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures	Volatility	−0.60	+0.58%	−58.1%	−23.7 pts
FFUT	Fidelity Managed Futures ETF	Managed futures	−0.08	+0.50%	−50.2%	+20.4 pts
MKTN	Federated Hermes MDT Market Neutral ETF	Market neutral	−0.20	+0.36%	−36.3%	+12.8 pts
LSEQ	Harbor Long-Short Equity ETF	Long-short equity	+0.08	+0.27%	−26.5%	+22.9 pts
DBMF	iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF	Managed futures	+0.08	+0.25%	−25.1%	+22.1 pts
IMF	Invesco Managed Futures Strategy ETF	Managed futures	+0.09	+0.20%	−20.3%	+17.7 pts
FLSP	Franklin Systematic Style Premia ETF	Multi-strategy	+0.06	+0.19%	−19.1%	+9.3 pts
QBER	TrueShares Quarterly Bear Hedge ETF	Hedged equity	−0.67	+0.15%	−15.1%	−4.2 pts
TAIL	Cambria Tail Risk ETF	Hedged equity	−0.69	+0.13%	−13.2%	−19.4 pts
MNA	NYLIM Merger Arbitrage ETF	Event driven	+0.07	+0.10%	−10.5%	−0.9 pts
ISMF	iShares Managed Futures Active ETF	Managed futures	+0.23	+0.10%	−10.0%	+13.5 pts
MRGR	ProShares Merger ETF	Event driven	+0.14	+0.10%	−9.6%	+2.1 pts
FMF	First Trust Managed Futures Strategy Fund	Managed futures	+0.15	+0.06%	−5.6%	+8.5 pts
CAOS	Alpha Architect Tail Risk ETF	Hedged equity	−0.08	+0.02%	−2.2%	−2.2 pts
ASMF	Virtus AlphaSimplex Managed Futures ETF	Managed futures	+0.26	+0.02%	−1.8%	+14.4 pts
LALT	First Trust Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF	Multi-strategy	+0.22	0.00%	0.4%	+9.9 pts
AHLT	AHL Trend ETF	Managed futures	+0.25	−0.03%	3.3%	+24.2 pts
ORR	Militia Long/Short Equity ETF	Long-short equity	+0.27	−0.08%	7.6%	+20.8 pts
QALT	SEI DBi Multi-Strategy Alternative ETF	Multi-strategy	+0.35	−0.09%	8.8%	+6.9 pts
CCOR	Core Alternative ETF	Hedged equity	+0.07	−0.14%	14.0%	−5.2 pts
HEDG	Equable Shares Hedged Equity ETF	Hedged equity	+0.76	−0.16%	16.4%	+6.9 pts
RSBT	Return Stacked Bonds & Managed Futures ETF	Managed futures	+0.33	−0.18%	18.3%	+9.6 pts
FTLS	First Trust Long/Short Equity	Long-short equity	+0.71	−0.26%	25.6%	+10.7 pts
RSBA	Return Stacked Bonds & Merger Arbitrage ETF	Event driven	+0.30	−0.26%	26.4%	−7.8 pts
MFUT	Cambria Chesapeake Pure Trend ETF	Managed futures	+0.39	−0.29%	29.3%	+22.9 pts
PHEQ	Parametric Hedged Equity ETF	Hedged equity	+0.92	−0.32%	32.1%	+9.4 pts
QBUL	TrueShares Quarterly Bull Hedge ETF	Hedged equity	+0.76	−0.33%	32.7%	−2.5 pts
HOLA	JPMorgan International Hedged Equity Laddere	Hedged equity	+0.66	−0.33%	32.8%	+5.8 pts
KSPY	KraneShares Hedgeye Hedged Equity Index ETF	Hedged equity	+0.87	−0.37%	36.8%	+9.7 pts
VYLD	Inverse VIX Short-Term Futures ETNs due Marc	Volatility	+0.79	−0.38%	38.3%	+13.6 pts
CLSE	Convergence Long/Short Equity ETF	Long-short equity	+0.73	−0.39%	38.9%	+31.6 pts
QAI	NYLIM Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF	Multi-strategy	+0.83	−0.40%	40.3%	+5.1 pts
HDG	ProShares Hedge Replication ETF	Multi-strategy	+0.85	−0.41%	40.9%	+4.1 pts
WTMF	WisdomTree Managed Futures Strategy Fund	Managed futures	+0.47	−0.41%	40.9%	+10.8 pts
HEQT	Simplify Hedged Equity ETF	Hedged equity	+0.95	−0.43%	43.3%	+9.3 pts
BTRN	Global X Bitcoin Trend Strategy ETF	Managed futures	+0.17	−0.53%	53.4%	−11.6 pts
HELO	JPMorgan Hedged Equity Laddered Overlay ETF	Hedged equity	+0.92	−0.54%	54.1%	+5.0 pts
TFPN	Blueprint Chesapeake Multi-Asset Trend ETF	Managed futures	+0.52	−0.58%	58.0%	+17.1 pts
SHDG	Soundwatch Hedged Equity ETF	Hedged equity	+0.86	−0.61%	60.6%	+4.4 pts
CBLS	Clough Hedged Equity ETF	Long-short equity	+0.47	−0.63%	62.7%	+5.7 pts
ZVOL	Volatility Premium Plus ETF	Volatility	+0.63	−0.63%	62.9%	+22.5 pts
HEGD	Swan Hedged Equity US Large Cap ETF	Hedged equity	+0.95	−0.65%	64.8%	+6.4 pts
HOLD	Harbor Alpha Layering ETF	Managed futures	+0.54	−0.65%	65.5%	+8.7 pts
SVOL	Simplify Volatility Premium ETF	Volatility	+0.70	−0.71%	70.7%	+12.9 pts
ASGM	Virtus AlphaSimplex Global Macro ETF	Global macro	+0.78	−0.71%	70.9%	+25.9 pts
THEQ	T. Rowe Price Hedged Equity ETF	Hedged equity	+0.98	−0.75%	74.8%	+7.5 pts
XCLR	Global X S&P 500 Collar 95-110 ETF	Hedged equity	+0.93	−0.75%	74.8%	+3.5 pts
HEQQ	JPMorgan Nasdaq Hedged Equity Laddered Overl	Hedged equity	+0.88	−0.75%	74.9%	+6.0 pts
PRAE	PlanRock Equity Plus Alternatives ETF	Managed futures	+0.69	−0.75%	75.1%	+15.0 pts
EHLS	Even Herd Long Short ETF	Long-short equity	+0.59	−0.76%	76.1%	+0.3 pts
ACIO	Aptus Collared Investment Opportunity ETF	Hedged equity	+0.98	−0.85%	85.2%	+6.4 pts
FFLS	The Future Fund Long/Short ETF	Long-short equity	+0.72	−0.86%	86.4%	−3.4 pts
QIS	Simplify Multi-QIS Alternative ETF	Multi-strategy	−0.06	−0.91%	91.4%	−40.8 pts
FHEQ	Fidelity Hedged Equity ETF	Hedged equity	+0.97	−0.94%	94.2%	+9.2 pts
RSST	Return Stacked U.S. Stocks & Managed Futures	Managed futures	+0.84	−0.96%	96.0%	+32.9 pts
XTR	Global X S&P 500 Tail Risk ETF	Hedged equity	+0.99	−0.98%	98.4%	+10.0 pts
QCLR	Global X NASDAQ 100 Collar 95-110 ETF	Hedged equity	+0.84	−1.01%	101.5%	−2.7 pts
CSM	ProShares Large Cap Core Plus	Long-short equity	+0.98	−1.04%	104.3%	+13.2 pts
SVXY	ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF	Volatility	+0.78	−1.15%	114.7%	+28.6 pts
QTR	Global X NASDAQ 100 Tail Risk ETF	Hedged equity	+0.90	−1.49%	148.9%	+12.7 pts

Method

ETFIQ calculations from Tiingo end-of-day closes for each fund, for SPY and for BIL, over 52 weekly returns ending on one date. Correlation and beta are computed on those weeks. Down-week capture is a fund’s average return in the weeks SPY fell as a share of SPY’s, on the unrounded averages. Against T-bills is the fund’s total return minus BIL’s over the same weeks. Strategies are read from each fund’s own prospectus. Thinly quoted funds are left out. Medians across funds. Rebuilt every trading night.

Data file: alternatives.json. ETFIQ is an independent publisher and makes no recommendations. Standards →

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ETFIQ Research, What alternatives ETFs did when stocks fell, data as of Oct 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/research/2026-10-13/alternatives-down-weeks

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