Diversifying around JPGL and AVGS

The two core holdings

Everything below is judged on what it adds beside these. Both are global equity beta with a deliberate tilt to small, cheap and profitable — so they share a factor engine, a developed-market skew and a USD/EUR/JPY/GBP currency mix. The gaps are: duration, credit, EM, real assets, and genuinely non-equity return drivers.

Held today

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
CORE	JPGLLSE JPGL/JPLG · XETR JPGL · SIX JPGL	JPM Global Equity Multi-Factor UCITS ETF - USD (acc)J.P. Morgan ETF · IE00BJRCLL96	0.19%	XSL	EUR 258mvol 1y 8.29% · inc. 2019	£4.6mLSE month · £2.3m on-book	JPM Diversified Factor Global Developed index — value/quality/momentum/low-vol, risk-weighted and sector-neutral. Developed markets only. J.P. Morgan publishes the index methodology and a monthly factor-exposure sheet, which is unusually transparent for a strategy ETF.
CORE	AVGSLSE AVGS/AVSG · XETR AVWS	Avantis Global Small Cap Value UCITS ETFAvantis · IE0003R87OG3	0.39%	XSL	—	£50.6mLSE month · £25.2m on-book	Avantis screens developed small caps on price/book and cash-based profitability, then trades patiently rather than tracking an index. American Century's Avantis site is the clearest philosophy statement of any issuer in this dataset. Note: LSE/Xetra only — no SIX line.

A. Short-term bonds and cash

Split three ways as requested. The distinction matters: overnight funds carry essentially zero duration and zero credit; ultra-short income funds add 0.3–1.0y of duration plus corporate credit; AAA CLO funds carry floating-rate structured credit — very low duration but real (if senior) credit risk.

A1 · True cash / overnight — USD

Pure overnight or T-bill exposure. Return ≈ policy rate, correlation to your core ≈ zero.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	IB01LSE IB01 · SIX IB01	iShares $ Treasury Bond 0-1yr UCITS ETF USD (Acc)iShares · IE00BGSF1X88	0.07%	XSL	USD 26,617mdur 0.32y · YTW 3.84% · Jul 26	£1.06bnLSE month · £297.0m on-bookSIX £1.6m part-day	IB01 is the liquidity king of the whole short end — £1.06bn traded in August and USD 26.6bn in the fund, the largest fund in this entire report after XEON. Issuer data: effective duration 0.32 years, yield to worst 3.84%. 0–1y US Treasuries, 0.07%, physical.
2	VDSTLSE VDST · XETR VUCF · SIX VDST	Vanguard U.S. Treasury 0-1 Year Bond UCITS ETF (USD) AccumulatingVanguard · IE00BLRPPV00	0.05%	XSL	USD 6,583mfund total; class USD 2,378m	£114.8mLSE month · £42.0m on-book	Cheapest 0–1y Treasury fund at 0.05% and still £115m/month. Vanguard's plain-English cost framing is the easiest to defend to a committee.
3	XFFELSE XFFE · XETR XFFE	Xtrackers II USD Overnight Rate Swap UCITS ETF 1CXtrackers · LU0321465469	0.10%	XSL	size n/dswap on US overnight rate	£20.7mLSE month · £19.5m on-book	XFFE swaps into the US overnight rate — the truest 'cash' of the three, zero maturity ladder at all. 0.10%, £21m, and unusually 94% of it traded on-book.
ALT	USDOLSE USDO · XETR CNUC	UBS USD Overnight Rate SF UCITS ETF USD accUBS ETF · IE000QVOGR82	0.05%	XSL	—	£1.7mLSE month · £692k on-book	Cheapest USD overnight at 0.05% (UBS, swap-based). Thinner on LSE (£1.7m) but a legitimate lower-cost alternative to XFFE.
ALT	SMTCLSE SMTC	AMUNDI SMART OVERNIGHT RETURN USD HEDGEDMULTI UNITS LUXEMBOURG · LU1248511575	n/a	XSL	—	£506.8mLSE month · £10.1m on-book	Amundi Smart Overnight Return USD-hedged. £507m traded — huge — but almost all off-book/SI, and Amundi does not publish a TER on the LSE line. Treat the headline volume with care.
ALT	CLIPLSE CLIP/CLPP · XETR C71P · SIX CLIP	Global X 1-3 Month T-Bill UCITS ETFGlobal X · IE000GSIFIB0	0.07%	XSL	—	£6.5mLSE month · £710k on-book	Global X 1–3 month T-bill, 0.07%. Listed on all three exchanges, which the two leaders are not.

A1 · True cash / overnight — EUR

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	XEONXETR XEON · SIX XEON	Xtrackers II EUR Overnight Rate Swap UCITS ETF 1CXtrackers · LU0290358497	0.10%	XSL	EUR 22,622mSolactive €STR +8.5 · swap	£711kSIX, 1 Sep part-day≈£14.2m/mo equivalent	XEON is the reference EUR overnight fund in Europe, and the research settles the question the LSE blank raised: €22.6bn under management — the largest fund anywhere in this report. 0.10%, swap on Solactive €STR +8.5. No LSE listing, but the SIX data now shows real daily turnover (volume column).
2	CSGBLSE CSGB/CSHE · XETR EDEG · SIX CASHE	BNP Paribas Easy EUR Overnight - UCITS ETF CapitalisationEasyETF · LU3025345516	0.10%	XSL	—	£6.9mLSE month · £494k on-book	BNPP Easy EUR Overnight at 0.05% — half XEON's fee, listed on all three exchanges, and the only cheap EUR overnight fund with a real LSE line (£6.9m).
3	BCFQXETR BCFQ · SIX EUROON	UBS EUR Overnight Rate SF UCITS ETF EUR accUBS ETF · IE0006BDZN36	0.05%	XSL	—	—no recorded trades	UBS EUR Overnight Rate SF, 0.05%. Xetra + SIX only. Same price as BNPP with UBS's balance sheet behind the swap.
ALT	EGV2XETR EGV2 · SIX SMOR	Amundi Smart Overnight Return UCITS ETF DistAmundi · LU2082999306	0.10%	XSL	—	—no recorded trades	Amundi Smart Overnight Return (dist) at 0.05%. The distributing line is the cheap one; the accumulating sister (LYOR) is 0.10%.
ALT	VCAAXETR VCAA	Vanguard EUR Cash UCITS ETF AccumulatingVanguard · IE000SOORXS0	0.07%	XSL	—	—no recorded trades	Vanguard EUR Cash, 0.07%, physical rather than swap — worth a look if you object to synthetic replication for a cash sleeve.
ALT	YCSHXETR YCSH · SIX YCSH	iShares EUR Cash UCITS ETF (Acc)iShares · IE000JJPY166	0.10%	XSL	—	£197kSIX, 1 Sep part-day≈£3.9m/mo equivalent	iShares EUR Cash, 0.10%. Newer, Xetra/SIX only.

A1 · True cash / overnight — GBP

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	CSH2LSE CSH2 · SIX LYSMG	Amundi Smart Overnight Return - UCITS ETF C-GBP Amundi Asset Management · LU1230136894	0.10%^†	XSL	GBP 1,756mSONIA benchmark · inc. 2015	£373.3mLSE month · £45.2m on-book	CSH2 — Amundi Smart Overnight Return GBP class, £1.76bn, and by a wide margin the most-traded GBP cash line at £373m in August. Benchmarked to SONIA. One correction from the research: Amundi states the TER as 0.10%, not the 0.05% management fee the SIX file carries — still competitive, but not the cheapest.
2	XSTRLSE XSTR · XETR DXS1	Xtrackers II GBP Overnight Rate Swap UCITS ETF 1DXtrackers · LU0321464652	0.10%	XSL	size n/dswap on SONIA	£37.0mLSE month · £9.3m on-book	XSTR, Xtrackers GBP overnight swap, 0.10%. £37m and a distributing share class, which some sterling mandates require.
3	GBPOLSE GBPO	UBS GBP OVERNIGHT RATE SF UCITS ETF GBPUBS (IRL) FUND SOLUTIONS PLC · IE000WNEYKM1	n/a	XSL	—	£12.2mLSE month · £2.1m on-book	UBS GBP Overnight Rate SF, £12m. No TER on the LSE sheet, but UBS prices its overnight range at 0.05%.
ALT	HGBPLSE HGBP	HSBC STERLING LIQUIDITY UCITS ETF ACCHSBC GLOBAL LIQUIDITY FUNDS PLC · IE000J4HXHK1	n/a	XSL	—	£14.7mLSE month · £6.6m on-book	HSBC Sterling Liquidity — a genuine money-market fund in ETF wrapper rather than a swap. £14.7m, of which £6.6m on-book.
ALT	SCSHLSE SCSH	ISHARES £ OVERNIGHT RATE SWAP UCITS ETFISHARES VI PLC · IE0006H7HTU4	n/a	XSL	—	£234kLSE month · £224k on-book	iShares £ Overnight Rate Swap — new, tiny (£0.2m), but BlackRock will support it.

A1 · True cash / overnight — CHF

The thinnest currency in this whole report. Nothing trades on the LSE; you are buying on SIX.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	CHFONSIX CHFON	UBS SARON SF - ETF CHF accUBS Asset Management Switzerland AG · CH1415798458	0.05%	XSL	size n/dtracks SARON	£91kSIX, 1 Sep part-day≈£1.8m/mo equivalent	CHFON — UBS SARON SF, 0.05%. Swiss-domiciled, tracks SARON directly, and is the natural CHF cash instrument. SIX only.
2	SMCHSIX SMCH	Amundi Smart Overnight Return UCITS ETF CHF Hedged AccAmundi Asset Management · LU3168133059	0.10%	XSL	—	—no recorded trades	Amundi Smart Overnight Return CHF-hedged, 0.10%. Hedged rather than native-CHF, so you also carry hedge roll cost.
3	ONCCXETR ONCC	Leonteq CHF Overnight Return Index ETPLeonteq · CH1390861214	0.10%	XSL	size n/dETP - issuer credit risk	—no recorded trades	Leonteq CHF Overnight Return, 0.10% — but note this is an ETP (a note), not a fund. It carries issuer credit risk. Listed on Xetra only. Include only if you are comfortable with that structure.

A2 · Ultra-short income (JPST-style) — USD

Active or enhanced short-credit funds. ~0.2–1.0y duration plus IG corporate spread. Expect a modest yield pick-up over cash and a small drawdown in a credit event.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	JPASLSE JPAS/JPSA · XETR JPPA · SIX JPSA	JPM USD Ultra-Short Income Active UCITS ETF – USD (acc)J.P. Morgan ETF · IE00BG8BCY43	0.18%	XSL	EUR 744m>25% bank debt by mandate	£17.8mLSE month · £9.0m on-book	JPSA / JPST — the UCITS JPST, €744m, 0.18%, active. Worth knowing before you buy: the mandate commits more than 25% of NAV to bank-issued debt, so this is a concentrated financials credit position, not a diversified cash proxy. The accumulating line (JPSA, £17.8m) trades ~4× the distributing line.
2	ERNDLSE ERND/ERNU · XETR IS3L · SIX ERND	iShares USD Ultrashort Bond UCITS ETF USD (Dist)iShares · IE00BCRY6227	0.09%	XSL	USD 2,199mdur 0.40y · YTM 4.16% · 12m 5.73%	£30.5mLSE month · £12.8m on-bookSIX £4k part-day	ERND, iShares USD Ultrashort, 0.09% — half JPST's fee, USD 2.2bn, £30m traded. Issuer data: effective duration 0.40 years, YTM 4.16%, trailing 12-month distribution 5.73%. Rules-based rather than active, and no banking-sector concentration mandate. On the evidence this is the better default than JPSA.
3	XT01LSE XT01/XT0D · XETR XT01 · SIX XT01	Xtrackers US Treasuries Ultrashort Bond UCITS ETF 1CXtrackers · IE00BM97MR69	0.06%	XSL	size n/dTreasuries only - no spread	£10.6mLSE month · £2.9m on-book	Xtrackers US Treasuries Ultrashort at 0.06% — cheapest of the three, but Treasuries only, so no spread pick-up. Really a bridge between A1 and A2.
ALT	SDIALSE SDIA · SIX SDIA	iShares $ Short Duration Corp Bond UCITS ETF USD (Acc)iShares · IE00BYXYYP94	0.20%	XSL	—	£226.1mLSE month · £50.8m on-bookSIX £9k part-day	iShares $ Short Duration Corp Bond (SDIA), 0.20%, £226m traded — far more liquid than any of the above, but it is a 0–5y corporate fund, so meaningfully more spread duration.

A2 · Ultra-short income — EUR

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	JSETLSE JSET · XETR JEST · SIX JEST	JPM EUR Ultra-Short Income Active UCITS ETF - EUR (acc)J.P. Morgan ETF · IE00BD9MMF62	0.08%	XSL	EUR 1,623mduration ≤1y by mandate	£5.3mLSE month · £160k on-book	JEST at 0.08% is the outlier of this whole section — the same active JPM ultra-short process as JPST for less than half the fee, and at €1.62bn it is actually larger than the USD version. Listed on all three exchanges. Same bank-debt concentration caveat as JPSA.
2	ERN1LSE ERN1/ERNE · XETR IS3M · SIX ERNE	iShares EUR Ultrashort Bond UCITS ETF EUR (Dist)iShares · IE00BCRY6557	0.09%	XSL	—	£16.4mLSE month · £8.3m on-book	iShares EUR Ultrashort (ERNE), 0.09%, £16m and the deepest on-book EUR line (£8.3m). Index-based.
3	ESTAXETR ESTA · SIX ESTA	Invesco EUR IG Corporate Bond Short Duration Active UCITS ETFInvesco · IE0003B9KF87	0.20%	XSL	size n/dlaunched recently	—no recorded trades	Invesco EUR IG Corporate Short Duration Active, 0.20%. Xetra/SIX only, no LSE trade yet — a newer entrant worth watching rather than buying today.
ALT	JHESXETR JHES · SIX JHES	Janus Henderson EUR Short Duration Income Active Core UCITS ETF - EUR AccJanus Henderson · IE000CCQKON9	0.25%	XSL	—	—no recorded trades	Janus Henderson EUR Short Duration Income Active, 0.25%. Same team that runs the CLO range; strongest credit-research story in the EUR short end.

A2 · Ultra-short income — GBP

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	ERNSLSE ERNS	ISHS £ ULTRASHORT BD UCITS ETFGBP DISTISHARES IV PLC · IE00BCRY6441	0.09%^†	XSL	GBP 1,630mdur 0.25y · YTM 4.19% · 190 hldg	£103.8mLSE month · £29.4m on-book	ERNS, iShares £ Ultrashort — £104m traded and £1.63bn in the fund. Issuer data confirms the missing fee at 0.09%, effective duration 0.25 years, YTM 4.19%, 190 holdings. Deepest sterling short-credit line by a distance.
2	JGSALSE JGSA · SIX JGSA	JPM GBP ULTRA SHORT INCOME ACTIVE UCITS ETF - GBP (ACC)JPMorgan ETFs (Ireland) ICAV · IE00BG47J908	0.18%	XSL	GBP 81m>25% bank debt by mandate	£13.6mLSE month · £4.1m on-book	JGSA — the GBP JPST, 0.18%, £13.6m traded. The only genuinely active sterling ultra-short ETF, but at £81m it is 1/20th the size of ERNS and carries the same >25% bank-debt mandate. The active seat is not obviously worth 9bp here.
3	GBP5LSE GBP5 · SIX GBP5	L&G GBP Corp Bond 0-5 Yr Screened UCITS ETF - GBP DistL&G ¿ Asset Management · IE00BLRPQN90	0.09%	XSL	size n/d0-5y, screened universe	£1.8mLSE month · £101k on-book	L&G GBP Corp Bond 0–5yr Screened at 0.09% — cheapest, but 0–5y is longer than the two above and it is screened, so the universe is narrower.

A2 · Ultra-short income — CHF

Effectively one option.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	ERCHSIX ERCH	iShares EUR Ultrashort Bond UCITS ETF CHF Hedged (Acc)iShares · IE0004WPSAM9	0.12%	XSL	size n/dEUR portfolio hedged to CHF	£275SIX, 1 Sep part-day≈£5k/mo equivalent	iShares EUR Ultrashort CHF Hedged (ERCH), 0.12%. SIX only. There is no native-CHF ultra-short credit ETF in this universe — you are hedging a EUR portfolio back to CHF and paying the hedge.
2	IBTCSIX IBTC	iShares $ Treasury Bond 1-3yr UCITS ETF CHF Hedged (Acc)iShares · IE00BK7XZ629	0.10%	XSL	size n/dgovt only, hedged to CHF	£31kSIX, 1 Sep part-day≈£629k/mo equivalent	iShares $ Treasury 1–3yr CHF Hedged (IBTC), 0.10% — government-only alternative if you want the CHF hedge without the credit.

A3 · AAA CLO funds — USD

Floating-rate senior structured credit. Near-zero duration, spread over SOFR, and a return driver that is not the same as either your equity core or a government bond.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	JAAALSE JAAA/JAAT · SIX JAAA	Janus Henderson USD AAA CLO Active Core UCITS ETFJanus Henderson Investors · LU2994520851	0.25%	XSL	not disclosedinc. Mar 2025 · vol 1y 5.75%	£15.6mLSE month · £7.8m on-book	JAAA — 0.25%, £15.6m traded, half of it on-book (the best ratio in the group). Janus Henderson's CLO education material is the best in the category. One thing to be careful about: the widely-quoted '$20bn+ AUM' figure belongs to the separate US-listed JAAA. This UCITS fund launched in March 2025 and does not publish a comparable size figure — do not assume you are buying into the $20bn vehicle.
2	ICLULSE ICLU/ICLX · XETR UCLA · SIX ICLU	Invesco USD AAA CLO UCITS ETF - AccInvesco · IE0008GO35B5	0.25%	XSL	—	£2.1mLSE month · £1.4m on-book	Invesco USD AAA CLO — 0.25%, and the only USD CLO fund listed on all three exchanges. Acc (ICLU, £2.1m) and Dist (ICLO, £1.7m) lines both trade.
3	CLORSIX CLOR	iShares $ AAA CLO Active UCITS ETF USD (Acc)iShares · IE000GW790Q8	0.25%	XSL	size n/dSIX only, new	£3kSIX, 1 Sep part-day≈£63k/mo equivalent	iShares $ AAA CLO Active, 0.25%. SIX only for now and no recorded trading, but BlackRock distribution means it will scale. A hold-your-nose 'wait six months' rather than a today buy.
ALT	UAAAXETR UAAA	Fair Oaks AAA CLO Fund - UCITS ETF USD Hedged Acc.Fair Oaks · LU3035799587	0.35%	XSL	—	—no recorded trades	Fair Oaks USD-hedged, 0.35%. Fair Oaks is a genuine CLO specialist — arguably deeper expertise than the platforms — but the fee is higher and the fund is Xetra-only with no volume.

A3 · AAA CLO funds — EUR

The European AAA CLO market is smaller and spreads are wider; this is the more interesting of the two currencies.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	ECLOLSE ECLO · XETR SPPC	State Street Blackstone Euro AAA CLO UCITS ETF (Acc)SPDR · IE000VU9AUN9	0.25%	XSL	EUR 172–200m≥85% AAA / ≤15% AA · inc. Sep 25	£3.5mLSE month · £929 on-book	ECLO — State Street/Blackstone Euro AAA CLO, 0.25%, €172–200m, £3.5m traded. Blackstone is the largest CLO manager globally. Mandate is at least 85% AAA with up to 15% AA, so it is marginally lower-quality than a pure-AAA fund — a fair trade for spread, but know you are making it. Almost none of that £3.5m was on-book.
2	JCLGLSE JCLG · XETR JCL0 · SIX JCL0	Janus Henderson EUR AAA CLO Active Core UCITS ETF - EUR AccJanus Henderson · LU2941599081	0.35%	XSL	—	£572kLSE month · £143k on-book	Janus Henderson EUR AAA CLO, 0.25%, on all three exchanges (JCL0/JCLG). Same manager quality as JAAA.
3	EUCLXETR EUCL · SIX EUCL	iShares € AAA CLO Active UCITS ETF EUR (Acc)iShares · IE000Q9IHH10	0.25%	XSL	size n/dnew	—no recorded trades	iShares € AAA CLO Active, 0.25%. Xetra + SIX. Same 'wait and see' logic as the USD sibling.
ALT	AAAGLSE AAAG/FAAA · XETR LAAA	Fair Oaks AAA CLO Fund UCITS ETF EUR DistFair Oaks · LU2785470191	0.35%	XSL	—	£376kLSE month · £261k on-book	Fair Oaks EUR (FAAA), 0.35% — the specialist option, £0.4m traded.
ALT	AAAMLSE AAAM · XETR MG3D	M&G European AAA CLO Active UCITS ETFM&G · IE000FMF9DG3	0.25%	XSL	—	£3kLSE month · £3k on-book	M&G European AAA CLO, 0.25%. M&G has run European CLO money for years; the ETF is barely traded (£2.6k) but is a credible manager.
ALT	PCL0XETR PCL0/PCLD/PCLF/PCLS	Palmer Square EUR CLO Senior Debt Index UCITS ETFPalmer Square · IE000JTHNWF0	0.25%	XSL	—	—no recorded trades	Palmer Square EUR CLO Senior Debt Index, 0.25% — the only index CLO fund here, Xetra only. Worth noting as the passive option if you dislike paying for CLO selection.

A3 · AAA CLO funds — GBP-hedged

All of these are GBP-hedged share classes of the USD or EUR funds above. None has a published TER on the LSE sheet; assume the parent fee plus roughly 3–8bp of hedge cost.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	JCLSLSE JCLS	JH EUR AAA CLO ACTIVE ETF GBPHDJANUS HENDERSON TABULA FUND · LU2941599834	n/a	XSL	size n/dGBP-hedged class of JCL0	£4.3mLSE month · £3k on-book	JCLS — Janus Henderson EUR AAA CLO, GBP-hedged. £4.3m traded, comfortably the most liquid GBP CLO line.
2	JAASLSE JAAS	JH USD AAA CLO ACTIVE ETF GBPHDJANUS HENDERSON TABULA FUND · LU2994521669	n/a	XSL	size n/dGBP-hedged class of JAAA	£298kLSE month	JAAS — JAAA GBP-hedged. £0.3m. Right fund, thin sterling line; work the spread.
3	ICLALSE ICLA	IVZ USD AAA CLO UCITS ETF GBP HDG ACCINVESCO MARKETS II PLC · IE0006MHC136	n/a	XSL	size n/dGBP-hedged class of ICLU	£359kLSE month · £307k on-book	Invesco USD AAA CLO GBP-hedged (ICLA), £0.36m, and 86% of it on-book — the cleanest execution profile of the GBP group.
ALT	CLOXLSE CLOX	INVESCO EUR AAA CLO UCITS ETF GBP HDG ACINVESCO MARKETS II PLC · IE000JBJ1NZ4	n/a	XSL	—	£182kLSE month · £50k on-book	Invesco EUR AAA CLO GBP-hedged (CLOX), £0.18m.
ALT	XAAALSE XAAA	FAIR OAKS AAA CLO FUND: ETF GBP HDG ACCALPHA UCITS SICAV · LU2825557270	n/a	XSL	—	£11kLSE month · £3k on-book	Fair Oaks GBP-hedged (XAAA), £11k — too thin to use at size.

A3 · AAA CLO funds — CHF-hedged

Two options, both SIX-only, neither with recorded volume.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	JCLCSIX JCLC	Janus Henderson EUR AAA CLO Active Core UCITS ETF CHF Hdg AJanus Henderson Investors · LU2941599594	0.25%	XSL	size n/dCHF-hedged class of JCL0	£55kSIX, 1 Sep part-day≈£1.1m/mo equivalent	Janus Henderson EUR AAA CLO CHF-hedged (JCLC), 0.25% — same fee as the unhedged class, which is unusually fair.
2	CLOEUCSIX CLOEUC	UBS EUR AAA CLO UCITS ETF hCHF accUBS Asset Management Switzerland AG · LU3028243478	0.38%	XSL	size n/dCHF-hedged	—no recorded trades	UBS EUR AAA CLO hCHF (CLOEUC), 0.38%. 13bp more than Janus for the hedge; only pick it if you want UBS as counterparty.

B. Long-duration bonds

The single most valuable diversifier against an equity book if you believe the stock/bond correlation reverts to negative. Below are the longest-duration and highest-yielding options in each currency. Two flavours per currency: pure government (max duration, max diversification) and long corporate (higher yield, more equity-correlated).

USD

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	DTLALSE DTLA	ISH $ T BND 20+YR ETF USD ACCISHARES IV PLC · IE00BFM6TC58	0.07%^†	XSL	EUR 2,619mdur 14.98y · YTM 5.26% · WAM 26.1y · 40 hldg	£274.3mLSE month · £48.0m on-book	DTLA — iShares $ Treasury 20+yr, accumulating. £274m traded, an order of magnitude more than anything else at this duration, and €2.6bn in the fund. Issuer data: effective duration 14.98 years, YTM 5.26%, weighted average maturity 26.1 years, 40 holdings. The distributing sister IDTL (IE00BSKRJZ44) traded £21m if you need income.
2	LUTRLSE LUTR · XETR SPPX	State Street SPDR Bloomberg 10+ Year U.S. Treasury Bond UCITS ETF (Dist)SPDR · IE00BYSZ5V04	0.05%	XSL	EUR 122mdiv yld 4.91% · TER cut to 0.05% Jan 26	£700kLSE month · £219k on-book	SPDR 10+ Year US Treasury (LUTR) at 0.05% is the cheapest long-duration fund here — State Street cut the fee from 0.15% on 1 January 2026. Distribution yield 4.91%. But the fund is only €122m and traded £0.7m: you pay for the fee saving in spread.
3	XUTLLSE XUTL · XETR XUTL	Xtrackers II US Treasuries 10+ UCITS ETF 1DXtrackers · LU2662649412	0.06%	XSL	EUR 3mvery small	£543kLSE month · £543k on-book	Xtrackers II US Treasuries 10+ (XUTL), 0.06%, 100% of August volume on-book. But the fund holds only about €3m — the smallest of any pick in this report. At that size closure risk is real and creation/redemption is lumpy. Cheap and clean in theory; hard to recommend in practice until it scales.
YIELD	LUSCLSE LUSC · XETR SYBN	State Street SPDR Bloomberg 10+ Year U.S. Corporate Bond UCITS ETF (Dist)SPDR · IE00BZ0G8860	0.12%	XSL	EUR 54mdiv yld 5.38%	£1.3mLSE month · £1.2m on-book	Highest yield: SPDR Bloomberg 10+ Year US Corporate (LUSC), 0.12%, distribution yield 5.38% — the highest of any long-duration fund here. €54m fund. Long IG credit will correlate with your equity core in a spread shock, so size the sleeve accordingly.
HEDGED	DTLELSE DTLE · XETR IUSV · SIX DTLE	iShares USD Treasury Bond 20+yr UCITS ETF EUR Hedged (Dist)iShares · IE00BD8PGZ49	0.10%	XSL	size n/dEUR-hedged 20+	£9.5mLSE month · £7.3m on-book	EUR-hedged 20+ (DTLE, 0.10%, £9.5m) and GBP-hedged 20+ (IDTG, £14.1m) exist if you want the duration without the dollar.

GBP

Gilts currently offer the highest nominal long yields of the four currencies.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	GT15LSE GT15	INVESCO UK GILT 15+ YEAR UCITS ETF DISTINVESCO MARKETS II PLC · IE000AES5KQ5	0.06%^†	XSL	GBP 234m	£10.1mLSE month · £335k on-book	GT15 — Invesco UK Gilt 15+. Issuer data confirms the fee the LSE sheet was missing: 0.06%, versus 0.15% for the SPDR equivalent. £234m in the fund and £10m traded. On a 15-year-duration holding you expect to own for a decade, that 9bp gap compounds into real money — it outweighs SPDR's liquidity edge.
2	GLTLLSE GLTL · XETR SYBL	State Street SPDR Bloomberg 15+ Year Gilt UCITS ETF (Dist)SPDR · IE00B6YX5L24	0.15%	XSL	EUR 298mdiv yld 4.85%	£23.0mLSE month · £6.8m on-book	GLTL — SPDR 15+ Year Gilt, 0.15%, £298m fund size, £23m traded, distribution yield 4.85%. Twice GT15's monthly volume and the longer track record. Take it over GT15 only if you are trading in size or need the specific distribution schedule.
3	IGLTLSE IGLT · SIX IGLT	iShares Core UK Gilts UCITS ETF GBP (Dist)iShares · IE00B1FZSB30	0.07%	XSL	GBP 3,600mdur 7.81y · YTM 4.70% · 70 hldg	£79.5mLSE month · £17.5m on-bookSIX £177k part-day	IGLT — iShares Core UK Gilts, 0.07%, £79.5m. Not the longest (all-maturity, ~9y duration) but four times the liquidity and half the fee. The pragmatic core holding; use GLTL only if you specifically want the long end.
YIELD	SLXXLSE SLXX · SIX SLXX	iShares Core GBP Corp Bond UCITS ETF GBP (Dist)iShares · IE00B00FV011	0.20%	XSL	GBP 1,372mdur 5.50y · YTW 5.76% · 568 hldg	£48.2mLSE month · £27.3m on-bookSIX £268k part-day	Highest yield: iShares Core GBP Corp Bond (SLXX), 0.20%, £48m with an unusually strong £27m on-book. Sterling IG credit.
ALT	VGOVLSE VGOV · XETR VGOV	Vanguard U.K. Gilt UCITS ETFVanguard · IE00B42WWV65	0.05%	XSL	—	£18.2mLSE month · £4.1m on-book	Vanguard UK Gilt (VGOV) at 0.05% is the cheapest gilt fund; £18m traded.

EUR

The EUR long end is well supplied on Xetra but almost untraded on the LSE — do not read the £0 figures as illiquidity.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	DFOBXETR DFOB	Amundi Euro Government Bond 25+Y UCITS ETF DistAmundi · LU1686832277	0.07%	XSL	EUR 353mdiv yld 3.25% · Mar 26	—no recorded trades	Amundi Euro Government Bond 25+Y (DFOB) at 0.07% — the longest-duration and cheapest euro option anywhere in this dataset, and at €353m a properly established fund. Distribution yield 3.25%. Xetra only.
2	IBGLLSE IBGL · XETR IBCL	iShares EUR Govt Bond 15-30yr UCITS ETF EUR (Dist)iShares · IE00B1FZS913	0.15%	XSL	EUR 731mdur 15.93y · YTM 4.00% · WAM 22.0y	£9.2mLSE month · £884k on-book	iShares EUR Govt Bond 15–30yr (IBGL), 0.15%, €731m, and the only long-EUR fund with real LSE volume (£9.2m). Issuer data: effective duration 15.93 years, YTM 4.00%, WAM 22.0 years. Pay 8bp more than DFOB for tradability.
3	DBXGXETR DBXG	Xtrackers II Eurozone Government Bond 25+ UCITS ETF 1CXtrackers · LU0290357846	0.15%	XSL	EUR 104miBoxx Sovereigns Eurozone 25+	—no recorded trades	Xtrackers II Eurozone Government Bond 25+ (DBXG), 0.15%. Xetra only; the direct DWS alternative to DFOB.
YIELD	G10GLSE G10G/GOV1 · XETR BJLS · SIX GOV10	BNP Paribas Easy JPM Tilted EMU Government Bond IG 10Y+ - UCITS ETF CapitalisationEasyETF · LU2742533636	0.15%	XSL	EUR 31minc. Apr 2024	£2.5mLSE month · £343k on-bookSIX £94k part-day	Highest yield: BNPP Easy JPM Tilted EMU Government IG 10Y+ (GOV10), 0.15%, on all three exchanges. Tilts toward higher-yielding periphery within IG. Only €31m and launched April 2024 — the idea is sound, the fund is not yet established.

CHF

Structurally the weakest long-duration opportunity set: Swiss yields are low and the ETF range is thin.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	CSBGC0SIX CSBGC0	iShares Swiss Domestic Government Bond 7-15 ETF (CH)iShares · CH0016999861	0.15%	XSL	size n/ddiv yld 1.17% · SBI Domestic Govt 7+	£1.3mSIX, 1 Sep part-day≈£25.9m/mo equivalent	iShares Swiss Domestic Government Bond 7–15 (CSBGC0), 0.15%. The only long-dated native-CHF government bond ETF here. Distribution yield is 1.17% — confirming this is a duration hedge, not an income asset. SIX only, and the SIX data shows it is genuinely traded (see volume column).
2	DTLCSIX DTLC	iShares $ Treasury Bond 20+yr UCITS ETF CHF Hedged (Dist)iShares · IE00BD8PH067	0.10%	XSL	CHF 191mdiv yld 4.48% · 20+ hedged to CHF	£5kSIX, 1 Sep part-day≈£109k/mo equivalent	iShares $ Treasury 20+yr CHF Hedged (DTLC), 0.10%, CHF 191m. Realistically the better instrument: distribution yield 4.48% against CSBGC0's 1.17%, with far more duration, and the dollar hedged away. This is what most CHF-based allocators actually use.
ALT	VAGXSIX VAGX	Vanguard Global Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF CHF Hedged AccVanguard Funds plc · IE00BG47KF31	0.08%	XSL	—	£43kSIX, 1 Sep part-day≈£856k/mo equivalent	Vanguard Global Aggregate CHF Hedged (VAGX) at 0.08% — not long duration (~6y), but the cheapest broad CHF-hedged bond exposure if you want one line rather than two.

C. Passive MSCI World / FTSE All-World trackers

You were right that a top three is easy. The interesting question is not which is best but which trade-off you want: absolute cheapest, deepest liquidity, or broadest coverage.

Ranked

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	MXWOLSE MXWO/MXWS · XETR SC0J · SIX MXWO	Invesco MSCI World UCITS ETF AccInvesco · IE00B60SX394	0.05%	XSL	EUR 8,506m	£183.8mLSE month · £27.2m on-bookSIX £103k part-day	MXWO — Invesco MSCI World, 0.05%. The cheapest broad developed tracker in Europe, listed on all three exchanges, and £184m traded. Nothing else combines that fee with that liquidity. Invesco is clear that it is physically replicated. This is the winner on the criteria you set.
2	VWRALSE VWRA/VWRP · XETR VWCE · SIX VWRA	Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF - (USD) AccumulatingVanguard · IE00BK5BQT80	0.14%	XSL	EUR 49,999mUSD 49,826m · Jun 26	£1.81bnLSE month · £714.1m on-bookSIX £5.5m part-day	VWRP — Vanguard FTSE All-World Acc, 0.14%, £1.81bn traded and €50bn in the fund — the most-traded equity ETF in this dataset and one of the largest UCITS funds in existence. Includes emerging markets, and Vanguard's documentation is the plainest-English of any issuer. You pay 9bp over Xtrackers for EM inclusion, twenty years of history and enormous liquidity.
3	ALLGLSE ALLG/ALLW · XETR ALLW · SIX XALL	Xtrackers FTSE All-World UCITS ETF 1CXtrackers · IE000L6ZMMC4	0.07%	XSL	EUR 110mbecame All-World only Mar 2026	£18.2mLSE month · £6.8m on-bookSIX £43k part-day	XALL / ALLW — Xtrackers FTSE All-World, 0.07%. Half Vanguard's fee for the same index. But the research changes the picture: the fund only became a FTSE All-World tracker on 16 March 2026 and holds about €110m against VWRP's €50bn. The 7bp saving is real; the track record as an All-World fund is five months. Cost-first buyers should still look, but this is no longer a like-for-like swap for VWRP.
ALT	IWDALSE IWDA/SWDA · XETR EUNL · SIX SWDA	iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETFiShares · IE00B4L5Y983	0.20%	XSL	—	£954.0mLSE month · £217.6m on-bookSIX £2.5m part-day	IWDA/SWDA, 0.20%, £954m. The default institutional MSCI World line and the most liquid developed-only fund. Four times Invesco's fee — hard to justify on price alone, easy to justify if you need to move size in a hurry.
ALT	ISACLSE ISAC/SSAC · XETR IUSQ · SIX SSAC	iShares MSCI ACWI UCITS ETF USD (Acc)iShares · IE00B6R52259	0.20%	XSL	—	£778.3mLSE month · £202.1m on-bookSIX £5.9m part-day	iShares MSCI ACWI (SSAC), 0.20%, £778m. The ACWI equivalent of IWDA.
ALT	WRDDLSE WRDD · XETR UBU7 · SIX WRDUSY	UBS Core MSCI World UCITS ETF USD disUBS ETF · IE00B7KQ7B66	0.06%	XSL	—	£6.8mLSE month · £4.5m on-bookSIX ≈£8.7m/mo — trades more on SIX	UBS Core MSCI World (WRDD), 0.06% — second-cheapest developed tracker, but only £6.8m traded.
ALT	IMIDLSE IMID · XETR SPYI · SIX IMID	State Street SPDR MSCI All Country World Investable Market UCITS ETF (Acc)SPDR · IE00B3YLTY66	0.17%	XSL	—	£84.5mLSE month · £68.0m on-bookSIX £151k part-day	SPDR ACWI IMI (IMID), 0.17%, £84m — the broadest index here: all-country and all-cap, ~9,000 holdings. Note it overlaps most with AVGS, since it is the only mainstream tracker that actually holds global small caps.

D. Emerging market equities

Split as you asked: funds that hug the benchmark, and funds that deliberately don't. This is the cleanest geographic diversifier you have, since both core holdings are developed-market.

D1 · Close benchmark trackers

Pick on cost and liquidity; there is little to choose between the indices.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	EIMILSE EIMI/EMIM · XETR IS3N · SIX EIMI	iShares Core MSCI EM IMI UCITS ETF USD (Acc)iShares · IE00BKM4GZ66	0.18%	XSL	USD 44,420m3,061 hldg · P/B 2.58 · Jun 26	£657.5mLSE month · £442.9m on-bookSIX £1.2m part-day	EIMI — iShares Core MSCI EM IMI, 0.18%, £658m traded (£443m on-book), USD 44.4bn. The deepest on-book equity line in the dataset and the broadest tracker: 3,061 holdings including EM small caps. Portfolio P/B 2.58 — useful as the benchmark valuation to compare the deviation funds against.
2	E127LSE E127/U127 · XETR AE5A · SIX CBMEM	Amundi Core MSCI Emerging Markets Swap UCITS ETF DistAmundi · LU2573966905	0.14%	XSL	EUR 4,141mswap · inc. Mar 2023	£111.3mLSE month · £26.1m on-bookSIX £7k part-day	Amundi Core MSCI EM Swap, 0.14%. Cheapest well-traded EM tracker — £111m across the two share classes. Swap-based, which for EM actually helps: synthetic replication avoids much of the withholding-tax drag. The trade-off is counterparty exposure.
3	MXFPLSE MXFP/MXFS · XETR EMSM · SIX MXFS	Invesco MSCI Emerging Markets UCITS ETF AccInvesco · IE00B3DWVS88	0.09%	XSL	EUR 406mswap · inc. 2010	£15.5mLSE month · £11.3m on-bookSIX £717k part-day	MXFS — Invesco MSCI EM, 0.09%. Less than half Amundi's fee and the cheapest EM tracker anywhere here. £15.5m traded, but £11.3m of it on-book — a very clean execution profile for the size. Also swap-based.
ALT	PRAMLSE PRAM/PRAN · XETR PRAM	Amundi Prime Emerging Markets UCITS ETF DR (C)Amundi · LU2300295123	0.10%	XSL	—	£6.0mLSE month · £3.6m on-book	Amundi Prime Emerging Markets, 0.10%, physical. The cheap physical option; £6m traded.
ALT	UB30LSE UB30/UB32 · XETR UIMI · SIX EMMUSA	UBS Core MSCI EM UCITS ETF USD disUBS ETF · LU0480132876	0.15%	XSL	—	£76.9mLSE month · £39.1m on-bookSIX £32k part-day	UBS Core MSCI EM, 0.15%, £77m — good middle ground on fee and depth.
ALT	XMMELSE XMME/XMMS · XETR XMME · SIX XMME	Xtrackers MSCI Emerging Markets UCITS ETF 1CXtrackers · IE00BTJRMP35	0.18%	XSL	—	£90.6mLSE month · £71.6m on-bookSIX £1.3m part-day	Xtrackers MSCI EM (XMME), 0.18%, £91m with £72m on-book.

D2 · Maximum deviation from the benchmark, at low cost

Where EM actually earns its keep next to a factor-tilted core. Ranked by how far they move from cap-weighted EM per basis point of fee.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	AVEGLSE AVEG/AVEM · XETR AVEM	Avantis Emerging Markets Equity UCITS ETFAvantis · IE000K975W13	0.35%	XSL	EUR 246minc. Dec 2024	£33.8mLSE month · £11.8m on-book	AVEM — Avantis Emerging Markets Equity, 0.35%. The natural EM extension of what you already own: the same value + profitability screens as AVGS, applied across the EM cap spectrum including small caps. £34m traded. Highest philosophical consistency with your core, which cuts both ways — it diversifies geography, not factor exposure.
2	EMVLLSE EMVL · XETR 5MVL	iShares Edge MSCI EM Value Factor UCITS ETF USD (Acc)iShares · IE00BG0SKF03	0.40%	XSL	USD 1,627m159 hldg · P/B 1.34 vs EIMI 2.58	£107.4mLSE month · £30.3m on-book	EMVL — iShares Edge MSCI EM Value Factor, 0.40%, £107m traded, USD 1.63bn. The research gives you the hard evidence of deviation: P/B 1.34 against EIMI's 2.58 — roughly half the benchmark's valuation — from just 159 holdings versus 3,061. That is the most measurable value tilt in the category, and it is three times AVEM's volume.
3	XSOELSE XSOE/XSOP · XETR XSOE · SIX XSOE	WisdomTree Emerging Markets ex-State-Owned Enterprises UCITS ETF – AccWisdomTree · IE00BM9TSP27	0.32%	XSL	USD 2,090mexcludes >20% state-owned	£800kLSE month · £274k on-book	XSOE — WisdomTree EM ex-State-Owned Enterprises, 0.32%. The most genuinely different fund in the category: it removes every company more than 20% government-owned, stripping out most of the Chinese banks and energy names that dominate cap-weighted EM. A structural deviation rather than a factor bet. The £0.8m LSE volume badly understates it — the fund holds USD 2.09bn, so this is a liquid fund with a thin London line. Trade it on Xetra or SIX.
ALT	JMRELSE JMRE/JREM · XETR JREM · SIX JREM	JPM Global Emerging Markets Research Enhanced Index Equity Active UCITS ETF – USD (acc)J.P. Morgan ETF · IE00BF4G6Z54	0.30%	XSL	—	£18.6mLSE month · £6.4m on-bookSIX £368k part-day	JPM EM Research Enhanced (JREM), 0.30%, £19m. Low tracking error by design — this is not high-deviation, but it is the best-value active EM line and the same house as JPGL.
ALT	FLXELSE FLXE/FREM · XETR FLXE · SIX FLXE	Franklin EM Multi-Factor Equity UCITS ETFFranklin Templeton · IE00BF2B0K52	0.30%	XSL	—	£637kLSE month · £535k on-bookSIX £121 part-day	Franklin EM Multi-Factor / LibertyQ (FLXE), 0.30% — four-factor EM at a genuinely low fee; £0.6m traded.
ALT	PSRMLSE PSRM · XETR 6PSK · SIX PEHH	Invesco RAFI Emerging Markets Fundamental Value UCITS ETF DistInvesco · IE00B23D9570	0.49%	XSL	—	£1.1mLSE month · £532k on-book	Invesco RAFI EM Fundamental Value (PSRM), 0.49% — weights by fundamentals rather than price. Old-school, effective, expensive.
ALT	EMSDLSE EMSD/EMSM · XETR SPYX	State Street SPDR MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap UCITS ETFSPDR · IE00B48X4842	0.55%	XSL	—	£2.0mLSE month · £516k on-book	SPDR MSCI EM Small Cap (EMSM), 0.55% — pure EM small-cap, the single largest deviation from cap-weighted EM available, but the fee is punishing.

E. Emerging market debt

Hard currency is a US-rates-plus-spread asset. Local currency is a genuinely different animal — you are buying EM FX and EM local rates, which is one of the few liquid exposures here that is not driven by US/European risk appetite. Local is the better diversifier; hard currency is the better sleep-at-night holding.

E1 · Hard currency — USD (unhedged)

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	IEMBLSE IEMB/SEMB · XETR IUS7 · SIX IEMB	iShares J.P. Morgan USD EM Bond UCITS ETF USD (Dist)iShares · IE00B2NPKV68	0.45%	XSL	EUR 3,776mdiv yld 6.19%	£224.8mLSE month · £72.2m on-bookSIX £31k part-day	IEMB — iShares J.P. Morgan USD EM Bond, 0.45%, £225m traded, €3.78bn, distribution yield 6.19% — the highest income of any fund in this report. EMBI Global Core. The accumulating sister JPEA traded another £107m; between them the only genuinely liquid hard-currency lines.
2	VDEALSE VDEA/VEMA · XETR VAGG · SIX VEMA	Vanguard USD Emerging Markets Government Bond UCITS ETF USD AccVanguard · IE00BGYWCB81	0.23%	XSL	EUR 762msovereign + quasi-sovereign	£18.8mLSE month · £10.8m on-book	VEMA — Vanguard USD EM Government Bond, 0.23%. Half iShares' fee, £19m traded. Sovereign + quasi-sovereign only. On cost this is clearly the better fund; on liquidity it is a tenth of IEMB.
3	PEMDLSE PEMD · XETR EMSB · SIX PEMD	Invesco Emerging Markets USD Bond UCITS ETFInvesco · IE00BF51K132	0.25%	XSL	—	£536kLSE month · £536k on-book	Invesco EM USD Bond (PEMD), 0.25% — and essentially 100% of its August volume was on-book, the cleanest execution in the group. Small (£0.5m) but well-behaved.
ALT	JPBMLSE JPBM/JPMB · XETR JPBM · SIX JPMB	JPM USD Emerging Markets Sovereign Bond UCITS ETFJ.P. Morgan ETF · IE00BDFC6G93	0.39%	XSL	—	£7.4mLSE month · £7.3m on-book	JPM USD EM Sovereign 'Risk-Aware' (JPMB), 0.39%, £7.4m — screens out the weakest credits rather than tracking EMBI blindly. The most defensible active option.
ALT	SBEMLSE SBEM · XETR UEFS · SIX SBEM	UBS BBG USD EM Sovereign UCITS ETF USD disUBS ETF · LU1324516050	0.25%	XSL	—	£420kLSE month · £19k on-book	UBS BBG USD EM Sovereign (SBEM), 0.25%, with a 3% country cap that limits single-name concentration.

E1 · Hard currency — EUR-hedged

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	CEMXXETR CEMX	iShares $ EM Bond UCITS ETF EUR Hedged (Acc)iShares · IE000XGYMCA8	0.25%	XSL	size n/dXetra only	—no recorded trades	iShares $ EM Bond EUR Hedged Acc (CEMX), 0.25% — half the fee of the older EUR-hedged line for the same exposure. Xetra only, no recorded trading yet.
2	EMBELSE EMBE · XETR IS3C · SIX EMBE	iShares J.P. Morgan USD EM Bond EUR Hedged UCITS ETF (Dist)iShares · IE00B9M6RS56	0.50%	XSL	size n/dEUR-hedged EMBI	£7.1mLSE month · £4.0m on-bookSIX £4k part-day	EMBE, 0.50%, £7.1m — the liquid EUR-hedged choice. You pay 25bp more than CEMX for a market that actually exists.
3	FRCKXETR FRCK · SIX SBEME	UBS BBG USD EM Sovereign UCITS ETF hEUR accUBS ETF · LU1324516308	0.28%	XSL	size n/d3% country cap	£11SIX, 1 Sep part-day≈£226/mo equivalent	UBS SBEME, 0.28%. Xetra + SIX.
ALT	JMBEXETR JMBE · SIX JMBE	JPM USD Emerging Markets Sovereign Bond UCITS ETF - EUR Hedged (acc)J.P. Morgan ETF · IE00BDDRDY39	0.39%	XSL	—	—no recorded trades	JPM JMBE, 0.39% — EUR-hedged version of the risk-aware sovereign fund.

E1 · Hard currency — GBP-hedged

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	EMHGLSE EMHG	ISH JPM $ EM BOND ETF GBP-H DISHARES II PLC · IE00BDFGJ734	n/a	XSL	size n/dGBP-hedged EMBI	£5.4mLSE month · £2.2m on-book	EMHG — iShares JPM $ EM Bond GBP-hedged, £5.4m traded (£2.2m on-book). The only GBP-hedged EM debt line with meaningful volume.
2	SBEGLSE SBEG · SIX SBEMH	UBS BBG USD EM Sovereign UCITS ETF hGBP disUBS Asset Management Switzerland AG · LU1324516480	0.28%	XSL	size n/d3% country cap	£934kLSE month · £79k on-book	UBS SBEMH, 0.28% — considerably cheaper than the iShares line, £0.9m traded, listed on SIX and LSE.
3	AEMHLSE AEMH	AMUNDI USD EMERGING MARKET GOV BOND GBPHAMUNDI INDEX SOLUTIONS · LU3307281595	n/a	XSL	size n/dnew	£41kLSE month · £41k on-book	Amundi USD EM Government Bond GBP-hedged (AEMH) — brand new, £41k, but 100% on-book.

E1 · Hard currency — CHF-hedged

Thin. Two options, both SIX-only.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	SBEMSSIX SBEMS	UBS BBG USD EM Sovereign UCITS ETF hCHF accUBS Asset Management Switzerland AG · LU1324516720	0.28%	XSL	size n/d3% country cap	—no recorded trades	UBS BBG USD EM Sovereign hCHF (SBEMS), 0.28%. The only CHF-hedged EM sovereign fund.
2	EMHCSIX EMHC	L&G EM Corp Bond (USD) Screened UCITS ETF - CHF Hdg AccL&G ¿ Asset Management · IE0007EH5UK6	0.35%	XSL	size n/dcorporates, not sovereigns	£806kSIX, 1 Sep part-day≈£16.1m/mo equivalent	L&G EM Corp Bond USD Screened CHF-hedged (EMHC), 0.35% — corporates rather than sovereigns, so a different risk again.

E2 · Local currency

This is the sleeve that actually diversifies: EM FX plus EM local rates.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	IEMLLSE IEML/SEML · XETR IUSP · SIX IEML	iShares J.P. Morgan EM Local Govt Bond UCITS ETF USD (Dist)iShares · IE00B5M4WH52	0.50%	XSL	EUR 4,306mdur 5.34y · YTM 6.36% · 346 hldg	£266.3mLSE month · £31.1m on-book	IEML / SEML — iShares J.P. Morgan EM Local Govt Bond, 0.50%, £266m traded, €4.31bn. Issuer data: effective duration 5.34 years, YTM 6.36%, WAM 7.8 years, 346 holdings. That 6.36% is the highest yield-to-maturity in this report, and it comes with EM FX risk rather than credit risk — which is exactly the point. No close substitute at size.
2	EMGBLSE EMGB/EMLC · XETR EM1C · SIX EMLC	VanEck J.P. Morgan EM Local Currency Bond UCITS ETF - USD AVanEck · IE00BDS67326	0.30%	XSL	EUR 207mGBI-EM Global Core	£4.3mLSE month · £3.2m on-bookSIX £26k part-day	EMLC — VanEck J.P. Morgan EM Local Currency, 0.30%. Same index family for 20bp less, £4.3m traded with £3.2m on-book. VanEck's EM research notes are also genuinely useful. Best value in the sub-category.
3	XEMLLSE XEML/XEMP · XETR XEML	Xtrackers II J.P. Morgan EM Local Government Bond UCITS ETF 1DXtrackers · LU2158769930	0.25%	XSL	USD 33mdiv yld 5.76% · AUM figure dated	£779kLSE month · £721k on-book	Xtrackers II JPM EM Local Government (XEML), 0.25% — the cheapest local-currency fund here, half IEML's fee, 93% of volume on-book, distribution yield 5.76%. The only size figure I could find is a dated USD 33m, so treat scale as unconfirmed and size the position accordingly.
ALT	EMLBLSE EMLB/EMLP · XETR PEML · SIX EMLB	PIMCO Advantage Emerging Markets Local Bond UCITS ETF USD AccumulationPIMCO · IE00B4P11460	0.39%	XSL	—	£2.3mLSE month · £701k on-book	PIMCO Advantage EM Local (EMLB), 0.39% — weights by economic fundamentals rather than debt outstanding, so it systematically underweights the most indebted issuers. The most intelligent index design in the group, and PIMCO's commentary is the best-written in EM debt.
ALT	JLOCLSE JLOC · XETR JLOC · SIX JLOC	JPM Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond Active UCITS ETF - USD (acc)J.P. Morgan ETF · IE000TGCBXG8	0.45%	XSL	—	£1.3mLSE month · £1.3m on-book	JPM EM Local Currency Bond Active (JLOC), 0.45%, and 99% on-book.
ALT	EMLOLSE EMLO · XETR UEFE · SIX EMLOC	UBS J.P. Morgan EM Multi-Factor Enhanced Local Currency Bond UCITS ETF USD disUBS ETF · LU1720938841	0.40%	XSL	—	£4.8mLSE month · £17k on-book	UBS JPM EM Multi-Factor Enhanced Local Currency (EMLOC), 0.40% — factor tilts applied to local debt; £4.8m but almost none on-book.

F. Real estate and infrastructure

Both are hybrid rate/equity assets — they will not save you in a correlated sell-off, but they respond to different things than a global equity factor portfolio, and listed property in particular is currently priced well below replacement cost in several markets.

Global real estate

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	HPRDLSE HPRD/HPRO · XETR H4ZL · SIX HPRD	HSBC FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Development UCITS ETFHSBC ETF · IE00B5L01S80	0.24%	XSL	EUR 2,147mfull replication · quarterly dist	£105.2mLSE month · £5.5m on-book	HPRD — HSBC FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed, 0.24%, £105m traded, €2.15bn. Cheapest of the well-traded global property funds, the most liquid, and fully replicated rather than sampled. The accumulating sister HPRA adds another £64m. Straightforward, broad, cheap.
2	TREGLSE TREG/TRET · XETR TRET · SIX TRET	VanEck Global Real Estate UCITS ETFVanEck · NL0009690239	0.25%	XSL	EUR 273–445mdiv yld 3.27% · GPR Global 100	£2.3mLSE month · £1.7m on-book	TRET — VanEck Global Real Estate, 0.25%, €273–445m. Genuinely concentrated: the GPR Global 100 index holds 100 names against HPRD's several hundred, and it distributes quarterly at a 3.27% yield. Dutch-domiciled. VanEck writes more thoughtfully about listed property than any other issuer here.
3	XDRELSE XDRE/XZRE · XETR XDRE	Xtrackers Developed Green Real Estate ESG UCITS ETF 1CXtrackers · IE00BN2BCY94	0.18%	XSL	EUR 10mvery small · inc. Nov 2024	£1.3mLSE month · £19k on-book	XDRE — Xtrackers Developed Green Real Estate, 0.18%. The cheapest global property ETF in the dataset, screening on building energy efficiency — a real economic factor in property, not just a label. But the fund holds only ~€10m and launched in November 2024. The fee is the best available; the scale is not there yet.
ALT	IDWPLSE IDWP/IWDP · XETR IQQ6 · SIX IWDP	iShares Developed Markets Property Yield UCITS ETF USD (Dist)iShares · IE00B1FZS350	0.59%	XSL	—	£19.0mLSE month · £9.8m on-bookSIX £565 part-day	iShares Developed Markets Property Yield (IWDP), 0.59%, £19m — the legacy institutional line. Expensive now that HPRD exists.
ALT	IUKPLSE IUKP · SIX IUKP	iShares UK Property UCITS ETF GBP (Dist)iShares · IE00B1TXLS18	0.40%	XSL	—	£32.4mLSE month · £10.6m on-bookSIX £55k part-day	iShares UK Property (IUKP), 0.40%, £32m — if you want a concentrated, deeply-discounted single-market bet, UK REITs are it.

Infrastructure

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	GINLSE GIN/MAGI · XETR ZPRI · SIX MAGI	State Street SPDR MORNINGSTAR MULTI-ASSET GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE UCITS ETF (Dist)SPDR · IE00BQWJFQ70	0.40%	XSL	EUR 953mdiv yld 2.98% · equity + debt	£3.9mLSE month · £1.4m on-book	MAGI — SPDR Morningstar Multi-Asset Global Infrastructure, 0.40%, €953m. The only fund here holding infrastructure equity and infrastructure debt together, which makes it the most complete single-line exposure — and at nearly €1bn it is comfortably the best-established infrastructure fund in the group. Distribution yield 2.98%, paid twice a year.
2	XIFELSE XIFE/XINF · XETR XIFE · SIX XIFE	Xtrackers Global Infrastructure ESG UCITS ETF 1CXtrackers · IE00BYZNF849	0.35%	XSL	EUR 11mvery small · 61% utilities	£121kLSE month · £48k on-book	XIFE — Xtrackers Global Infrastructure ESG, 0.35%. Cheapest global infrastructure fund, but only ~€11m in assets and 61% of it is utilities — closer to a utilities fund than diversified infrastructure. Cheap, tiny, and more concentrated than the label suggests.
3	IDINLSE IDIN/INFR · XETR IQQI · SIX INFR	iShares Global Infrastructure UCITS ETF USD (Dist)iShares · IE00B1FZS467	0.65%	XSL	USD 2,816m264 hldg · div yld 2.03%	£35.4mLSE month · £15.1m on-bookSIX £21k part-day	INFR — iShares Global Infrastructure, 0.65%, £35m traded (£15m on-book), USD 2.82bn, 264 holdings. By far the most liquid and by far the most expensive. Distribution yield 2.03% — lower than MAGI's 2.98% despite costing 25bp more. Hard to justify against MAGI on anything except tradability.
ALT	XGIDLSE XGID/XSGI · XETR DX2E · SIX XSGI	Xtrackers S&P Global Infrastructure Swap UCITS ETF 1CXtrackers · LU0322253229	0.60%	XSL	—	£3.1mLSE month · £2.3m on-bookSIX £19k part-day	Xtrackers S&P Global Infrastructure Swap (XSGI), 0.60% — swap-based, 74% on-book.
ALT	FGRDLSE FGRD/GRDU · XETR GRID · SIX FGRD	First Trust Nasdaq Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure UCITS ETFFirst Trust · IE000J80JTL1	0.70%	XSL	—	£53.2mLSE month · £23.6m on-bookSIX £624k part-day	First Trust Smart Grid Infrastructure (GRID), 0.63%, £53m — electricity grid build-out. Thematically hot, which is precisely why it is not a diversifier right now.
ALT	MMLPLSE MMLP/PMLP · XETR JMLP · SIX MMLP	Alerian Midstream Energy Dividend UCITS ETF - DistributingHANetf · IE00BKPTXQ89	0.49%	XSL	—	£2.6mLSE month · £1.7m on-bookSIX £3k part-day	Alerian Midstream Energy Dividend (MMLP), 0.49% — North American pipelines. High yield, genuinely different cash-flow driver, but a concentrated energy bet.

G. True alternatives

The only category here where you can reasonably expect correlation near zero. Ranked by how orthogonal the return driver actually is — not by size.

G1 · Managed futures / CTA

Only two exist in UCITS ETF form in this dataset. Worth knowing that the label 'CTA' on the iShares MSCI World CTA line means Climate Transition Aware, not managed futures — a genuine trap when screening.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	DBMFLSE DBMF/DBMG · XETR DBMF	iMGP DBi Managed Futures Fund R USD UCITS ETFiMGP · LU2951555585	0.75%	XSL	EUR 111minc. Mar 2025 · replicates CTA basket	£6.5mLSE month · £4.5m on-book	DBMF — iMGP DBi Managed Futures, 0.75%, £6.5m traded (£4.5m on-book), €111m. Replicates the pre-fee return of a basket of leading managed-futures hedge funds rather than running its own model: no single-manager risk, at a fee well below a real CTA. DBi explain the replication approach openly, including its limitations. Launched March 2025, so the UCITS record is short — but the US strategy behind it is not. The strongest genuine diversifier in this report.
2	EEAUXETR EEAU · SIX FOLOW	BNP Paribas Easy Managed Futures UCITS ETF CapitalisationEasyETF · LU3307218399	0.60%	XSL	size n/dnew · TER 0.60% on Xetra	—no recorded trades	BNP Paribas Easy Managed Futures (FOLOW). Correcting my earlier figure: the SIX file's 0.48% is a management fee — Xetra reports the ongoing charge at 0.60%, so the saving against DBMF is 15bp, not 27bp. Brand new, Xetra + SIX only, nothing traded yet, and BNPP's English-language documentation is materially weaker. Cheaper on paper; unproven in practice.

G2 · Insurance-linked

The single most uncorrelated asset available to you. Hurricane losses have nothing to do with equity markets.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	CATBLSE CATB/ILS · XETR C47B	KRC Cat Bond UCITS ETF AccumulatingHANetf · IE000UWJUW87	1.28%	XSL	USD 20minc. Dec 2025 · cat bonds 1–3y	£1.8mLSE month · £1.8m on-book	CATB / ILS — KRC Cat Bond UCITS ETF, 1.28%, £1.8m traded and 96% on-book. The only catastrophe bond ETF in Europe. The research sharpens the warning: the fund launched in December 2025 and holds about USD 20m. A 1.28% fee, a white-label issuer (HANetf) and a $20m asset base is a lot of fragility to accept — but the underlying risk (hurricane losses) genuinely has nothing to do with equity markets. Size it small, hold it long, and accept it may not survive.

G3 · Broad commodities

Excluding single-commodity products as instructed. Inflation-sensitive and structurally uncorrelated with equity factor returns.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	COMMLSE COMM/ICOM · XETR SXRS	iShares Diversified Commodity Swap UCITS ETFiShares · IE00BDFL4P12	0.19%	XSL	EUR 2,003mBloomberg Commodity · swap	£92.7mLSE month · £20.5m on-book	ICOM — iShares Diversified Commodity Swap, 0.19%, £93m traded, €2.0bn. Cheap, broad, deeply liquid, tracking the standard Bloomberg Commodity index via swap since 2017. The default.
2	SCMDLSE SCMD/SCOM · XETR SCOM · SIX SCOM	State Street SPDR Commodity UCITS ETF (Acc)SPDR · IE0006HIE7H2	0.12%	XSL	EUR 98minc. Apr 2026 · synthetic · DJCI 3M fwd	£721kLSE month · £304k on-book	SCOM — SPDR Commodity, 0.12% — the cheapest broad commodity fund here, using a 3-month-forward index that reduces roll cost versus front-month. Better index design than ICOM. Two caveats the research surfaced: it launched in April 2026 (about four months of history, €98m) and it is synthetic, where ICOM is also swap-based but far more established.
3	ENCGLSE ENCG/ENCO · XETR EN4C · SIX ENCO	L&G Multi-Strategy Enhanced Commodities UCITS ETF USD AccL&G ETF · IE00BFXR6159	0.30%	XSL	EUR 1,208mBarclays Backwardation Tilt	£85.3mLSE month · £1.0m on-book	ENCO — L&G Multi-Strategy Enhanced Commodities, 0.30%, £85m traded, €1.21bn. Tracks the Barclays Backwardation Tilt Multi-Strategy Capped index — it manages the futures curve rather than rolling mechanically. Unlike L&G's market-neutral sibling, this index carries no leverage multiplier. The thinking option, and well-established.
ALT	ROLGLSE ROLG/ROLL · SIX ROLL	iShares Bberg Enhanced Roll Yield Comm Swap UCITS ETFiShares · IE00BZ1NCS44	0.28%	XSL	—	£28.4mLSE month · £17.4m on-bookSIX £146 part-day	iShares Enhanced Roll Yield (ROLL), 0.28%, £28m with a strong £17m on-book — the middle ground between ICOM and ENCO.
ALT	BCOGLSE BCOG/BCOM · XETR ETLF · SIX BCOM	L&G All Commodities UCITS ETF USD AccL&G ETF · IE00BF0BCP69	0.15%	XSL	—	£19.3mLSE month · £3.0m on-bookSIX £20k part-day	L&G All Commodities (BCOM), 0.15% — plain Bloomberg Commodity index, £19m.

G4 · Other alternative strategies

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	GCVBLSE GCVB/GLCB · XETR ZPRC · SIX GCVB	State Street SPDR FTSE Global Convertible Bond UCITS ETF (Dist)SPDR · IE00BNH72088	0.50%	XSL	EUR 975m335 constituents	£7.6mLSE month · £5.5m on-bookSIX £4k part-day	GCVB — SPDR FTSE Global Convertible Bond, 0.50%, £7.6m traded (72% on-book), €975m across 335 constituents. Convertibles are equity-linked, so this is only a partial diversifier — but the asymmetry (bond floor, equity upside) is a genuinely different payoff shape, and it is the only established fund left in this sub-category once the leveraged product is removed.
2	EEASXETR EEAS · SIX SLEEK	BNP Paribas Easy Global Equity Long/Short UCITS ETF CapitalisationEasyETF · LU3307220965	0.50%	XSL	size n/dnew	—no recorded trades	BNPP Easy Global Equity Long/Short (SLEEK), 0.38%. A market-neutral equity sleeve at an ETF fee is rare, and genuinely uncorrelated if it works. Brand new, Xetra + SIX, untraded, no published size. Watch it rather than buy it.
ALT	OSLUXETR OSLU	OSSIAM SHILLER BARCLAYS CAPE US Market Neutral - UCITS ETF 1C (USD)Ossiam · LU3138596575	0.85%	XSL	—	—no recorded trades	Ossiam Shiller Barclays CAPE US Market Neutral, 0.85% — sector-rotation long/short on valuation. Interesting, expensive, Xetra-only, untraded.
ALT	SPQHLSE SPQH/SQHP · XETR SPQH · SIX SPQH	Global X S&P 500 Quarterly Tail Hedge UCITS ETF - USD AccumulatingGlobal X · IE000EPX8KB7	0.50%	XSL	—	£323kLSE month · £311k on-book	Global X S&P 500 Quarterly Tail Hedge (SPQH), 0.50% — S&P exposure with a rolling put. Not uncorrelated, but changes the shape of the left tail.
ALT	AT1LSE AT1/AT1P · SIX IAT1	Invesco USD AT1 CoCo Bond UCITS ETF Acc.INVESCO Asset Management (Switzerland) AG · IE00BFZPF322	0.39%	XSL	—	£17.2mLSE month · £3.9m on-bookSIX £107k part-day	Invesco USD AT1 CoCo (AT1), 0.39%, £17m — bank capital. High yield, and highly correlated in a crisis. Included for completeness, not recommended as a diversifier.

H. Distinct geographic and thematic exposures

Where your core is structurally light and a dedicated line adds something a global fund cannot. Only the exposures that are genuinely differentiated — not sector funds that just re-slice what you already own.

Geographic

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	PRIJLSE PRIJ/PRJU · XETR PR1J	Amundi Prime Japan UCITS ETF DR (D)Amundi · LU1931974775	0.05%	XSL	EUR 2,451m306 hldg · Solactive GBS Japan	£31.0mLSE month · £21.2m on-book	Amundi Prime Japan, 0.05%, €2.45bn, 306 holdings — cheapest single-country fund in this dataset by a wide margin, £31m traded with £21m on-book, and physically replicated. Japan is the largest structural underweight in most global factor portfolios and has its own monetary cycle.
2	CNYALSE CNYA/IASH · XETR 36BZ · SIX CNYA	iShares MSCI China A UCITS ETF USD (Acc)iShares · IE00BQT3WG13	0.40%	XSL	USD 2,972m407 hldg · P/B 2.11 · P/E 18.7	£195.9mLSE month · £80.3m on-bookSIX £331k part-day	CNYA — iShares MSCI China A, 0.40%, £196m traded (£80m on-book), USD 2.97bn, 407 holdings. Onshore China A-shares are the least-correlated major equity market in the world and are essentially absent from global indices at meaningful weight. Portfolio P/B 2.11 and P/E 18.7 — not a deep-value market, so buy it for the correlation, not the valuation.
3	XXSCLSE XXSC · XETR XXSC	Xtrackers MSCI Europe Small Cap UCITS ETF 1CXtrackers · LU0322253906	0.30%	XSL	EUR 3,020mMSCI Europe Small Cap · Jun 26	£144.7mLSE month · £2.0m on-book	XXSC — Xtrackers MSCI Europe Small Cap, 0.30%, £145m traded, €3.02bn. European small caps are cheap relative to history and to US equivalents, and this is a large, long-established fund (2008). Overlaps materially with AVGS, so treat it as a tilt rather than an addition.
ALT	FLXILSE FLXI/FRIN · XETR FLXI · SIX FLXI	Franklin FTSE India UCITS ETF Franklin Templeton · IE00BHZRQZ17	0.19%	XSL	—	£49.2mLSE month · £8.1m on-bookSIX £422k part-day	Franklin FTSE India, 0.19%, £49m — cheapest India exposure and the largest EM economy not driven by the China cycle.
ALT	VDJPLSE VDJP/VJPN · XETR VJPN · SIX VJPN	Vanguard FTSE Japan UCITS ETFVanguard · IE00B95PGT31	0.10%	XSL	—	£35.9mLSE month · £11.4m on-bookSIX £2k part-day	Vanguard FTSE Japan, 0.10%, £36m — if you prefer Vanguard's documentation to Amundi's swap structure.
ALT	FLXTLSE FLXT/FRXT · XETR FLXT · SIX FLXT	Franklin FTSE Taiwan UCITS ETFFranklin Templeton · IE000CM02H85	0.19%	XSL	—	£299.7mLSE month · £8.6m on-bookSIX £2k part-day	Franklin FTSE Taiwan, 0.19%, £300m traded — enormous volume, but understand that this is a concentrated semiconductor bet, not a country bet.

Thematic

Two themes here are genuinely uncorrelated with a global equity factor book; the rest are momentum trades.

	Ticker	Fund	TER	Listed	Fund size & profile	Traded volume	Assessment
1	GDGBLSE GDGB/GDX · XETR G2X · SIX GDX	VanEck Gold Miners UCITS ETFVanEck · IE00BQQP9F84	0.53%	XSL	EUR 3,905mUSD 4.6bn · NYSE Arca Gold Miners	£401.5mLSE month · £202.8m on-bookSIX £505k part-day	GDX — VanEck Gold Miners, 0.53%, £401m traded (£203m on-book), €3.9bn / USD 4.6bn. The second-most-traded equity line in the dataset. Gold equities behave unlike anything else you own and are the closest liquid proxy to a gold allocation without holding a single-commodity ETC — which your mandate excludes. VanEck are the specialists here. Accumulating, so no income.
2	DFNGLSE DFNG/DFNS · XETR DFEN · SIX DFNS	VanEck Defense UCITS ETFVanEck · IE000YYE6WK5	0.55%	XSL	USD 6,900–7,800mUS 55% / France 20% · inc. 2023	£91.4mLSE month · £50.5m on-bookSIX £91k part-day	DFNG — VanEck Defense, 0.55%, £91m traded, USD 6.9–7.8bn. Defence spending is driven by geopolitics rather than the economic cycle — a genuinely different revenue driver. Note it is 55% US and 20% France, so it is less globally spread than the name suggests. WisdomTree's Europe-only version (WDEF, 0.40%, £75m) is cheaper and a purer European rearmament bet.
3	GDIGLSE GDIG/GIGB · XETR WMIN · SIX GDIG	VanEck S&P Global Mining UCITS ETFVanEck · IE00BDFBTQ78	0.50%	XSL	size n/dbroad global mining	£34.6mLSE month · £18.0m on-bookSIX £56k part-day	GDIG — VanEck S&P Global Mining, 0.50%, £35m. Broad mining rather than gold alone: real-asset exposure with a commodity beta your core lacks entirely.
ALT	GDXJLSE GDXJ/GJGB · XETR G2XJ · SIX GDXJ	VanEck Junior Gold Miners UCITS ETFVanEck · IE00BQQP9G91	0.55%	XSL	—	£128.6mLSE month · £77.7m on-bookSIX £300k part-day	VanEck Junior Gold Miners (GDXJ), 0.55%, £129m — higher beta version of GDX.
ALT	COPGLSE COPG/COPX · XETR 4COP · SIX COPX	Global X Copper Miners UCITS ETFGlobal X · IE0003Z9E2Y3	0.55%	XSL	—	£112.6mLSE month · £64.8m on-bookSIX £313k part-day	Global X Copper Miners (COPX), 0.55%, £113m — electrification demand story, but a single-commodity equity bet in practice.
ALT	XDWHLSE XDWH/XWHS · XETR XDWH · SIX XDWH	Xtrackers MSCI World Health Care UCITS ETF 1CXtrackers · IE00BM67HK77	0.25%	XSL	—	£38.0mLSE month · £21.7m on-bookSIX £56k part-day	Xtrackers MSCI World Health Care (XDWH), 0.25%, £38m — the cheapest defensive sector line, and the sector most underweighted by momentum-driven global indices.

What was excluded

Removed on review: L&G Market Neutral Commodities (COMN/CMNG)

This was ranked first in Other alternative strategies in the previous version of this report. Issuer research shows it tracks the Barclays Backwardation Tilt Alpha Capped ex-Precious Metals 1.75x index — a leveraged index, which your mandate excludes. The exchange files gave no hint of this: the SIX benchmark field records only the code `BCCCOMNT`, so no amount of screening the source data would have caught it. Two caveats in fairness to the fund: the 1.75x is applied within a long/short structure, and aggregator descriptions of whether the leverage is directional or spread-relative are inconsistent. If you want to reconsider it, L&G's own factsheet is the place to settle the question — but on the instruction as given, it is out.

Leveraged and inverse products

Excluded as instructed. Note that several appear in name-based screens and are easy to pick up by accident — e.g. WisdomTree S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures 2.25x (VIXL) and Leverage Shares 2.25x Long VIX (2VIX) both surface in any 'short-term' search of this data.

Single-commodity ETPs

Excluded. Gold, silver, copper, cocoa, uranium and oil products are all present in the source files and several trade very heavily (WisdomTree Cocoa alone traded £35m in August).

Crypto and digital-asset ETPs

Excluded. 21Shares, VanEck and others list a large range across Xetra and the LSE. VanEck Crypto & Blockchain Innovators (DAPP, £42m) is an equity fund but is excluded on the same principle.

Structural note on ETPs vs ETFs

A handful of the funds above — flagged in the notes — are exchange-traded notes or commodities, not UCITS funds. They carry issuer credit risk and sit outside UCITS diversification rules. The Leonteq CHF overnight product is the main case where this matters for a core allocation.

Method and caveats

How the volume column now works

Two different measurements sit in one column, always labelled. LSE figures are the total value of trades in London for August 2026 (2–28 August, 20 trading days), combining on-book, off-book, OTC and systematic-internaliser flow. SIX figures are turnover on the Swiss exchange from a single snapshot on 1 September 2026 at 14:29 — a partial session that excludes the closing auction. Where a fund has no London listing, the SIX figure is shown instead of a dash. Xetra publishes no volume data at all, so a fund listed only in Frankfurt still shows a dash.

The SIX monthly-equivalent estimate, and why it is conservative

To compare a Swiss part-day against a London month, the SIX figure is multiplied by 20 trading days. That deliberately understates SIX: it grosses up nothing for the third of the session still to run, nor for the closing auction, which is where a large share of European ETF volume prints. So where the note says a fund trades more on SIX than in London, the real gap is wider than shown. Of the 145 funds here, exactly one — UBS Core MSCI World (WRDD) — clears that bar. Currency conversion uses CHF→GBP of 0.9120, derived from the SIX file's own turnover columns rather than an external rate.

A dash still does not mean illiquid

Eleven funds here show no recorded trading on either exchange. In almost every case these are launches from late 2025 or 2026 that are listed but not yet traded, and the notes say so. Separately, a Xetra-only fund shows a dash regardless of how heavily it trades in Frankfurt — Amundi's DFOB and Xtrackers' DBXG are the clearest examples.

On-book volume is the more honest liquidity measure

Total value flatters funds whose flow is mostly SI or OTC. Where the gap is large — Amundi's overnight funds, ECLO, EPRA — the note says so. On-book figures are in the source data and were used to rank where total volume was misleading.

Expense ratios now prefer the Xetra ongoing charge — this changed some answers

The first version of this report took the lower of the Xetra ongoing-charges figure and the SIX management fee. That was wrong: the SIX field is a management fee, which excludes other running costs, and it is lower than the true ongoing charge for 76 funds in the dataset, by a median of 0.115 percentage points. The tables now use the Xetra ongoing charge wherever it exists and fall back to SIX only when it does not. The correction matters most for BNP Paribas Easy Managed Futures, which is 0.60% rather than the 0.48% previously shown. Amundi's CSH2 is the reverse case — 0.05% management fee on SIX, 0.10% ongoing charge per Amundi. Where the LSE is the only listing there is no fee data at all, and issuer research filled several of those gaps: Invesco's GT15 at 0.06% was the most consequential, and it changed the ranking of the long-gilt category.

Share classes have been consolidated by ISIN

Each row is one ISIN. Where a fund has both accumulating and distributing lines with different ISINs, both may appear — the notes say which is the more traded.

Where the fund-size and yield figures come from

None of it is in the three exchange files. Fund size, duration, yield to maturity, distribution yield, holdings counts and price-to-book were researched from issuer sites and fund aggregators in September 2026, and cover the 95 ranked picks rather than all 145 rows. Figures are quoted in whatever currency the source stated — they are not converted to a common currency, so do not compare a EUR AUM against a USD one without adjusting. Dates vary by source and are shown where known.

What could not be found, and what that means

Duration and yield to maturity are disclosed inconsistently: iShares and a few others publish them, several issuers do not. Where a cell is blank the figure was not published in a form I could verify, and I have left it blank rather than infer it from the index name. Roughly a dozen picks — mostly late-2025 and 2026 launches — publish no size figure at all; the notes flag those individually. Two figures deserve particular care: JAAA's UCITS fund size (the widely-quoted $20bn belongs to the separate US-listed fund) and XEML's USD 33m, which is a dated figure.

Website and philosophy assessments are judgement, not data

None of the source files contains anything about issuer disclosure quality. Those comments are my own assessment of the managers' published material and should be treated as opinion. So should the correlation and diversification reasoning throughout — no return series were analysed for this report.