HESGX
Horizon Defensive Core Fund
Horizon Funds
Expense ratio1
0.93%
Net assets2
$473.67M
Holdings2
301
Category
US Equity
2025 return3
9.48%

Investment objective & strategy

As of March 26, 2026 · prospectus

Objective. The investment objective of the Horizon Defensive Core Fund (the Defensive Core Fund or the Fund) is to seek to capture the majority of returns associated with U.S. equity market investments, while mitigating downside risk through the use of a risk overlay strategy (the Risk Assist strategy).

Strategy. The Defensive Core Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by utilizing two strategies: (1) the Core Equity Strategy; and (2) the Risk Assist Strategy. The Core Equity Strategy invests primarily in common stocks of large and mid-cap U.S. companies that exhibit high quality and growth characteristics, while the Risk Assist Strategy is an actively managed risk reduction strategy intended to guard against large declines in the Funds equity portfolio. The Funds investment adviser (Horizon Investments, LLC (Horizon or the Adviser)) will determine how to allocate the Defensive Core Funds assets between the Core Equity Strategy and the Risk Assist Strategy. Core Equity Strategy . Horizon executes the Core Equity Strategy by investing the Funds assets primarily in equity securities … The Defensive Core Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by utilizing two strategies: (1) the Core Equity Strategy; and (2) the Risk Assist Strategy. The Core Equity Strategy invests primarily in common stocks of large and mid-cap U.S. companies that exhibit high quality and growth characteristics, while the Risk Assist Strategy is an actively managed risk reduction strategy intended to guard against large declines in the Funds equity portfolio. The Funds investment adviser (Horizon Investments, LLC (Horizon or the Adviser)) will determine how to allocate the Defensive Core Funds assets between the Core Equity Strategy and the Risk Assist Strategy. Core Equity Strategy . Horizon executes the Core Equity Strategy by investing the Funds assets primarily in equity securities of large and mid-cap U.S. companies. Horizon generally considers large and mid-cap companies to be those that are within the range of the S&P 500 and S&P 400 indices when purchased. However, the Fund can invest in companies of any size, which may include small-cap companies, at the discretion of Horizon. Horizon employs a multi-factor process to select investments that Horizon believes have high quality and growth characteristics as compared to the market generally. Horizon considers high quality characteristics to include, without limitation, high profitability and stable earnings; low price variability; low fundamental valuation measures; and high recent price trends. Horizon considers growth characteristics to include, without limitation, revenue growth, earnings per share (EPS) growth, gross profit, and free cash flow (FCF) growth. Horizon selects and weights securities using a flexible approach that combines active management and quantitative models to allocate the Funds portfolio between issuers, sectors and/or factors (e.g., growth, profitability, sentiment and fundamental safety) that Horizon believes offer the opportunity for the highest quality characteristics that may provide higher projected return for a given amount of risk. In constructing the portfolio, Horizon may consider industry and position constraints to ensure sufficient diversification, as determined by Horizon, and may invest in other investment companies, including ETFs, that invest in equity securities of U.S. companies. The Core Equity Strategy expects securities with the foregoing characteristics in aggregate to have a similar performance and risk as traditional U.S. equity markets. The Fund expects to engage in frequent buying and selling of securities to achieve its investment objective. Risk Assist Strategy. Under the Risk Assist strategy, Horizon continually measures market conditions with a specific focus on characteristics that indicate abnormal or severe risk conditions (such as increases in market volatility and decreases in global equity markets), in order to apply a proprietary process that prompts a risk reduction of the portfolio. The Defensive Core Fund typically executes this strategy by investing up to 100% of the Defensive Core Funds portfolio in U.S. Treasuries or other cash equivalents, which may include, without limitation, U.S. Treasury-focused securities, which may include, without limitation, Treasury bonds, Treasury notes, Treasury Inflated Protection Securities (collectively, U.S. Treasury Securities); exchange traded options on U.S. Treasury Securities; repurchase agreements fully collateralized by U.S. Treasury Securities; and money market instruments, including obligations of U.S. and foreign banks, corporate obligations, U.S. government securities, municipal securities, repurchase agreements and asset-backed securities, paying a fixed, variable or floating interest rate (collectively, Cash Equivalents); or money market funds or ETFs that invest in Cash Equivalents (collectively Defensive Investments). The Defensive Core Fund may invest in U.S. Treasury Securities without regard to maturity or duration. Although Horizon may elect to allocate 100% of the Defensive Core Funds assets to the Risk Assist strategy, it is not required to. Instead, Horizon typically employs the Risk Assist strategy in stages, and Horizon may elect to allocate between 0% and 100% of the Defensive Core Funds assets to the Risk Assist strategy, depending on Horizons determination of current market risk. The Risk Assist algorithm includes a process by which it systematically attempts to protect investment gains within the portfolio based on Horizons measures of perceived risk. The result of this process is referred to as a ratchet. To implement the ratchet, Horizon first determines the lowest portfolio value that the algorithm is calculated to accommodate during any 12-month period. As the Risk Assist strategy portfolio value grows (typically when the portfolio has experienced 3-5% of appreciation, depending on market conditions), the Risk Assist algorithm will increase (i.e., ratchet up) the value of the loss tolerance limit in an attempt to protect those gains.

Top holdings

As of Feb. 28, 2026 · N-PORT
SecurityTickerValue% of fund
Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF MAGS $39.22M 8.28%
NVIDIA CORP $32.71M 6.91%
APPLE INC $26.93M 5.69%
ALPHABET INC CL A $21.22M 4.48%
MICROSOFT CORP $20.66M 4.36%
AMAZON.COM INC $14.37M 3.03%
BROADCOM INC $13.25M 2.80%
WALMART INC $9.80M 2.07%
META PLATFORMS INC CL A $9.26M 1.96%
LILLY ELI and CO $9.05M 1.91%
View all holdings →

Allocation by sector

As of February 28, 2026 · N-PORT
View portfolio breakdown →

Portfolio moves

Nov 30, 2025 → Feb 28, 2026
Opened
2
Exited
0
Increased
4
Decreased
295
Unchanged
1

How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.

View portfolio moves →

Similar funds

Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight

Advisers

As of November 30, 2025 · N-CEN
FirmRole
HORIZON INVESTMENTS LLC. Adviser

Footnotes

  1. Expense ratio as of March 26, 2026, from the fund's prospectus.
  2. Net assets and holdings count as of February 28, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
  3. Total return for calendar year 2025, before tax and after fund expenses. As reported in the fund's prospectus performance bar chart.

Machine-readable: JSON · Markdown. Programmatic access via the agent surface.