NYLI Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF

NYLI Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF (QAI) is a fund of funds. It tracks the NYLIM Hedge Multi-Strategy Index by holding about 33 other ETFs, plus swaps, to copy the broad market exposures behind hedge fund returns. It does not own hedge funds. It has swung less than stocks, but returns have been modest: 3.25% a year over the 10 years to December 31, 2025. Its expense ratio is 0.81%.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, QAI returned +6.6%, 8th of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +4.2% and its 10-year +3.8%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 14% and regained its old high 4.4 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-8.7%); its best was 2023 (+10.1%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 14.9% (Feb 17, 2021 to Oct 14, 2022), recovered by Mar 12, 2024.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 33 securities; the ten largest made up 70.22% of assets. It also reported 12.41% in a money-market fund, most likely cash collateral from lending out shares rather than uninvested money.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $28.2M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +1.98%, +0.68%, -1.57%.

The index is built by the fund's own advisor, which is part of New York Life. It starts from the idea that hedge funds, taken as a group, earn much of their return from exposure to common asset classes such as stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies. The index tries to copy that "beta" portion of returns, meaning the part not due to manager skill, over longer periods rather than day to day. It does not try to capture "alpha," the skill-based part, and it holds no hedge funds.

The index follows fixed rules and picks from exchange-traded products covering US Treasurys, floating-rate loans, foreign and emerging-market stocks, real estate investment trusts, municipal bonds, managed futures, S&P 500 volatility and more. Bitcoin products are capped at plus or minus 2.5% at each rebalance. Weights are reset every quarter, and an annual review can add or drop components. Portfolio turnover was 55%.

The index can also hold short positions, which are bets that a price will fall. As of July 31, 2026, the fund had 94 derivative positions. Most were total return swaps, contracts that pay the return of an asset, on ETFs such as iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) and iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond (IEF). Their combined net value was small, at about -0.45% of assets.

• QAI charges 0.81% a year, versus an average of 0.86% for the similar funds below (3rd of 8, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.75% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• The fee includes a 0.22% waiver from the adviser, which may end.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $83 in the first year and $1,002 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It spreads money across many asset classes and has moved about half as much as the market (a one-year beta of 0.49), but its returns and income are modest.

QAI could add a steadier, mixed-asset slice to a portfolio. As of July 31, 2026, its largest holdings were short-term Treasurys (VGSH, 19.3%) and floating-rate notes (FLOT, 15.4%). It launched in 2009, so it has no record from the 2008 crisis. It fell 14% in the 2020 COVID crash and recovered in about 4.4 months. In 2022 it fell 12.8% and needed 14.6 months to recover, and 2022 was its worst calendar year (-8.46%). Its deepest drop, -14.9% from February 2021 to October 2022, took about 17 months to recover. Anyone who had to sell during that stretch would have locked in losses. The yield was 1.4% as of October 27, 2026, paid once a year. In the SEC's standard example, costs come to $83 in the first year on $10,000. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by other buffer (defined-outcome) funds, largest first.