TOPS Balanced ETF Portfolio
Northern Lights Variable Trust
Fund of funds
Expense ratio
Net assets1
$156.75M
Holdings1
24
Category
US Equity
Return

Investment objective & strategy

As of April 22, 2025 · prospectus

Objective. The Portfolio seeks income and capital appreciation.

Strategy. The Portfolio employs a fund-of-funds structure that invests, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its assets in exchange-traded funds (?ETFs?). The ETFs included in the Portfolio invest primarily in securities representing one of the following asset classes: Government Fixed Income Securities Corporate Fixed Income Securities Common and Preferred Stocks Real Estate-Related Securities (?REITs?) Natural Resource-Related Securities The Portfolio restricts investment in fixed income ETFs to those with an average maturity of 20 years or less and invests primarily in ETFs with average portfolio credit quality of investment grade. Maturity is the time between when a fixed income security is issued and when it matures. No more than 15% of the Portfolio will be allocated to fixed income ETFs … The Portfolio employs a fund-of-funds structure that invests, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its assets in exchange-traded funds (?ETFs?). The ETFs included in the Portfolio invest primarily in securities representing one of the following asset classes: Government Fixed Income Securities Corporate Fixed Income Securities Common and Preferred Stocks Real Estate-Related Securities (?REITs?) Natural Resource-Related Securities The Portfolio restricts investment in fixed income ETFs to those with an average maturity of 20 years or less and invests primarily in ETFs with average portfolio credit quality of investment grade. Maturity is the time between when a fixed income security is issued and when it matures. No more than 15% of the Portfolio will be allocated to fixed income ETFs with an average portfolio credit quality below investment grade (commonly referred to as ?junk bond? credit quality). The Portfolio defines investment grade credit quality as Baa3 or higher by Moody?s Investors Service or BBB- or higher by S&P Rating Group. The Portfolio invests in ETFs that may invest in securities without restriction as to underlying issuer country (including foreign and emerging countries), capitalization or currency. The Portfolio considers emerging market countries to be those represented in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The Portfolio invests in REIT ETFs and natural resource ETFs without restriction as to underlying issuer capitalization. The adviser seeks to achieve the Portfolio?s investment objectives by allocating assets and selecting individual ETFs using the adviser?s TOPS (The Optimized Portfolio System) methodology. The TOPS methodology utilizes multiple asset classes in an effort to enhance performance and/or reduce risk (as measured by return volatility). Under normal market conditions, the Portfolio invests at least 25% of its assets in equity ETFs and at least 25% of its assets in fixed income ETFs. However, to achieve the Portfolio?s income aspect of the Portfolio?s investment objectives, the adviser allocates approximately 50% of Portfolio assets to fixed income ETFs. To achieve the capital appreciation aspect of the Portfolio?s investment objectives, the adviser allocates approximately 50% of Portfolio assets to a combination of equity ETFs, REIT ETFs and natural resource ETFs. Furthermore, the adviser selects some equity ETFs that are composed of value stocks. The adviser expects value stocks (those with a lower-than-average price-to-earnings ratio) to have returns that are less volatile than the equity market as a whole. The adviser selects individual ETFs that it believes are reasonably representative of an asset class and have relatively low expenses and/or relatively high returns when compared to a peer group of ETFs. The adviser may sell individual ETFs to rebalance asset allocation or to purchase a substitute ETF with a higher expected return or lower risk profile or for any other reason. The adviser seeks to enhance the efficiency of trade execution by employing a sub-adviser to execute security trades. The sub-adviser has some discretion on which securities to trade and when in the day to conduct the trade, subject to the adviser?s oversight. The Portfolio and the adviser have received a SEC order that allows the adviser to hire a new sub-adviser or sub-advisers without shareholder approval. There is no guarantee that the Portfolio will meet its investment objectives. Who Should Invest in the Portfolio? The adviser believes the Portfolio is appropriate for investors with short-term to intermediate-term investment horizons who seek capital preservation as well as the opportunity for modest income and modest capital appreciation.

Allocation by sector

As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT
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Portfolio moves

Dec 31, 2025 → Mar 31, 2026
Opened
0
Exited
0
Increased
21
Decreased
3
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.

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Advisers

As of December 31, 2025 · N-CEN
FirmRole
Milliman Financial Risk Management LLC Sub-adviser
Valmark Advisers, Inc. Adviser

Footnotes

  1. Net assets and holdings count as of March 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.

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