Investment objective & strategy
As of Aug. 25, 2025 · prospectusObjective. The ZEGA Buy and Hedge ETF (the Fund) seeks long-term capital appreciation while mitigating overall market risk.
Strategy. The Fund is an actively-managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that seeks to provide exposure to the U.S. large capitalization equity market, while mitigating overall market downside risk in the event of a major market decline. To achieve its investment objective, the Fund invests in a combination of options, as well as fixed income securities, or other income producing securities, including preferred shares, through ETFs or other investment companies or through direct investments. In pursuing the Funds investment objective, the Adviser seeks to achieve exposure to the performance of the U.S. large capitalization equity market, generally recognized as the S&P 500 Index (the S&P 500), through call index options, call options on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) or other ETFs … The Fund is an actively-managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that seeks to provide exposure to the U.S. large capitalization equity market, while mitigating overall market downside risk in the event of a major market decline. To achieve its investment objective, the Fund invests in a combination of options, as well as fixed income securities, or other income producing securities, including preferred shares, through ETFs or other investment companies or through direct investments. In pursuing the Funds investment objective, the Adviser seeks to achieve exposure to the performance of the U.S. large capitalization equity market, generally recognized as the S&P 500 Index (the S&P 500), through call index options, call options on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) or other ETFs that track the S&P 500, and FLexible EXchange Options (FLEX Options) (collectively, S&P 500 options). The Funds S&P 500 option positions will represent 100% notional exposure to the S&P 500. An option gives the purchaser of the option the right to purchase (for a call option) or sell (for a put option) the underlying asset (or deliver cash equal to the value of an underlying index) at a specified price (strike price). In the event the underlying asset declines in value, the value of a call option will generally decrease (and may end up worthless) and the value of a put option will generally increase. In the event the underlying asset appreciates in value, the value of a call option will generally increase and the value of a put option will generally decrease (and may end up worthless). FLEX Options are customizable exchange-traded option contracts guaranteed for settlement by the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). The Adviser may ladder the Funds S&P 500 option positions. Laddering is an investment technique that utilizes multiple option positions over multiple expiration dates, to avoid the risk of reinvesting a large portion of assets in an unfavorable financial environment, as well as creating more opportunities to roll hedges and secure gains during extended periods of market appreciation. The Adviser will ladder the Funds S&P 500 option positions by investing in options with multiple expiration dates over a 12-month period using at least two intervals or rungs. By regularly rebuilding each ladder rung as options expire the Adviser will seek to achieve additional equity exposure as markets experience reduced prices (essentially buying on dips), or realize gains as market prices increase and as hedged positions are reestablished at higher levels. The Fund may invest significantly in fixed income and other income producing securities through ETFs or other investment companies, or through direct investments. The Funds fixed income investments may include below investment grade debt securities (often referred to as high yield or junk bonds). The Funds fixed income investments aim to generate income as a means of offsetting expenses associated with the cost of purchasing options. The Fund may purchase put options as a means of hedging to provide downside protection on the underlying holdings in the income portion of the Funds portfolio. The Fund also seeks to produce income by selling out-of-the-money call options. A call option is considered out-of-the-money when the strike price of the option at expiration exceeds the current price of the underlying asset. The Fund will only sell call options that are either covered by the underlying asset held in the Funds portfolio (also known as covered call selling) or by corresponding purchased call options held in the Funds portfolio (also known as a long call spread). The Funds option positions are determined by the Adviser based on underlying quantitative metrics, including open interest, depth of expirations, number of strike prices, implied volatility, bid/ask spread width and cost. Open interest and bid/ask spread width are indicators of the liquidity of an option position and likelihood of efficient price execution. Implied volatility is an indicator of how expensive an option is relative to other options and relative to historical ranges. In general, as volatility rises option premiums will also rise making an option more expensive. A greater number of strike prices and expirations generally gives the Adviser more flexibility when choosing levels and length of protection. The Adviser analyzes such metrics to determine the Fund portfolios ability to mitigate market risk while generating returns. The Adviser makes buy and sell decisions for the Fund based on a set of defined rules established by the Adviser, which involve the use of proprietary quantitative models as well as information and data supplied by third parties (Models and Data), and which may be revised from time to time. With regard to buy and sell decisions, the Adviser considers option data and probabilities, along with the ability to manage the risk of a position. For fixed income investments, the Adviser assesses a positions ability to have a viable hedge that limits risk while producing desired revenue. For S&P 500 options, the Adviser typically adds new purchased call options to the Funds portfolio when the market value of the S&P 500 materially declines. When new call options are purchased during market declines, the Adviser still intends to limit the Funds S&P 500 option positions to only approximately 8-10% of the Funds portfolio over a 12-month period. When the market value of the S&P 500 appreciates, the S&P 500 options generally increase in value. If the value of the Funds S&P 500 options materially exceed the 8-10% target, the Adviser will simultaneously sell the S&P 500 options with higher market values in the Funds portfolio and purchase new S&P 500 options that have a lower premium to bring the Funds S&P 500 options holdings in-line with the 8-10% target. By using a combination of options and fixed income positions, the Adviser seeks to limit the loss exposure of Fund portfolio holdings. The Funds notional exposure to the S&P 500 with options will represent 100% of the Funds portfolio. This limitation may be done by using put options for protection or restricting the amount spent on long calls. The Fund aims to restrict exposure to major declines in the market value of the S&P 500 as the most a purchased call option can lose is the amount paid for the call (also known as the premium). As a result, the Adviser seeks to limit the level of exposure to loss with respect to that portion of the Funds portfolio holding S&P 500 options to 8-10% over any 12-month period. The portion of the Funds portfolio holding S&P 500 options may experience a loss of more than 8-10% in a single month or quarter; however, over the prior 12-month period the Advisers strategy aims to limit losses within the 8-10% target range. During periods where the market value of the S&P 500 experiences multiple years of double-digit losses, the portion of the Funds portfolio holding S&P 500 options may experience losses of 8-10% in consecutive 12-month periods. The portion of the Funds portfolio holding fixed income investments also has risk of loss exposure. The Adviser may hedge this risk of loss exposure by purchasing put options that are directly correlated to the underlying fixed income investments held in the Funds portfolio. The underlying fixed income investments held in the Funds portfolio may experience losses, but the Adviser seeks to limit those losses to 10% through the Funds investments in purchased put options. The Fund may simultaneously experience losses in both its S&P 500 option positions and fixed income investments. This may result in the Funds total portfolio experiencing losses in excess of the 8-10% target range over a 12-month period. There are costs associated with the Advisers options hedging strategy and the Fund typically experiences such costs in the form of option time decay. Option time decay is a measure of the rate of decline in the value of an option contract due to the passage of time. The cost of the Funds S&P 500 options can limit the Funds ability to achieve returns equal to the gains experienced by the S&P 500.
Top holdings
As of Jan. 31, 2026 · N-PORT| Security | Ticker | Value | % of fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| US ULTRA BOND CBT Sep25 | — | $24.83M | 71.57% |
| U.S. Treasury Bills | B | $2.79M | 8.04% |
| WI TREASURY SEC. 0.000000% 02/19/2026 | B | $2.64M | 7.62% |
| U.S. Treasury Bills | B | $1.39M | 4.01% |
| U.S. Treasury Bills | B | $1.27M | 3.67% |
| U.S. Treasury Bills | B | $880.73K | 2.54% |
| FRST AM-GV OB-X | TMPXX | $344.61K | 0.99% |
| US ULTRA BOND CBT Sep25 | — | $173.36K | 0.50% |
| US ULTRA BOND CBT Sep25 | — | $129.67K | 0.37% |
| US ULTRA BOND CBT Sep25 | — | $84.96K | 0.24% |
Portfolio moves
Oct 31, 2025 → Jan 31, 2026How 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.
Similar funds
Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight| Fund | Overlap | Net exp. |
|---|---|---|
| Defiance Daily Target 2X Long NVO ETF · NVOX | 82% | 1.30% |
| Defiance Daily Target 2X Short PLTR ETF | 82% | — |
| Defiance Daily Target 2X Long LMND ETF | 82% | — |
Advisers
| Firm | Role |
|---|---|
| Tidal Investments LLC | Adviser |
| ZEGA Financial, LLC | Sub-adviser |
Footnotes
- Expense ratio as of August 25, 2025, from the fund's prospectus.
- Net assets and holdings count as of January 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
- Total return for calendar year 2025, before tax and after fund expenses. Computed by compounding the twelve monthly total returns the fund reported in its SEC N-PORT filings for 2025 (the latest prospectus does not yet chart this year).
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