Acruence Active Hedge U.S. Equity ETF

Acruence Active Hedge U.S. Equity ETF (XVOL) is an actively managed fund that picks 40 to 80 stocks, mostly from the S&P 500, and buys options on the VIX volatility index meant to soften market drops. Its goal is stock-market returns with smaller swings than the S&P 500. It charges 0.83% a year, held about $1.7 million in net assets as of March 31, 2026, and still lost 25.4% in the 2022 bear market.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, XVOL returned +0.2%.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +3.3%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-20.8%); its best was 2024 (+20.0%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 25.8% (Dec 29, 2021 to Oct 14, 2022), recovered by Aug 5, 2024.

As of Mar 31, 2026, the fund held 80 securities; the ten largest made up 18.83% of assets.

By sector

• Over the three months to Mar 31, 2026, investors withdrew a net $547K (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +1.66%, +3.57%, -7.34%.

Tidal Financial Group's XVOL is actively managed, not index-based. Its sub-adviser, Acruence Capital, ranks S&P 500 industries on price strength, shifts in institutional ownership, earnings trends and debt. From favored industries it picks two kinds of stocks: dividend payers, judged on yield, debt and price relative to earnings, and growth companies with faster earnings growth and higher sales. Each group makes up 25% to 75% of a 40- to 80-stock portfolio. Turnover was 361% per its July 24, 2025 prospectus, meaning it replaced holdings more than three times in a year.

To reduce volatility (how sharply prices swing), it buys options on the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, which tracks expected 30-day stock-market swings. The VIX tends to jump when stocks fall, so these options can gain in selloffs. It may also use collars, vertical spreads, covered calls or box trades; selling calls caps some gains in rallies. Net stock exposure typically runs 50% to 95%, with options aiming to offset the rest of the stocks' volatility.

As of March 31, 2026, the hedge was a VIX call spread (calls bought at 45, sold at 70) expiring April 15, 2026, worth a net 0.36% of assets. Options may sit in a Cayman Islands subsidiary, capped at 20% of assets, and the fund holds U.S. Treasuries as options collateral.

• XVOL charges 0.83% a year, versus an average of 0.13% for the similar funds below.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $85 in the first year and $1,025 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

Its hedged approach aims for smaller swings than the S&P 500, but its tiny size, 0.83% fee, complex options and 25.8% deepest drop point to a small side position rather than a core or defensive one.

Launched in April 2021, XVOL has no record from the 2008 or 2020 crashes. Despite its hedges, it lost 25.4% in the 2022 bear market, and 2022 was its worst calendar year, down 20.8%. Its deepest drop, 25.8% from December 2021 to October 2022, took until August 2024, about 22 months, to recover. Selling shares for spending during that stretch would have locked in losses. Over the year to October 27, 2026, it moved about half as much as the market (a beta of 0.49) but returned just 0.2%.

Income is modest: a 1.93% trailing 12-month yield as of October 27, 2026, paid once a year. It charges 0.83% a year, or $85 in the first year and $1,025 over 10 years on $10,000 in the SEC's standard example. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by closest holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports (no similar fund shares 20% or more of its holdings).