What Hull Tactical Asset Allocation does

Hull Tactical Asset Allocation, LLC ("HTAA") is an independent, privately owned Registered Investment Adviser founded in 2013 and headquartered in Chicago. It operates as the investment adviser to an actively managed ETF (accessed at www.hulltacticalfunds.com), which deploys an ensemble of quantitative models spanning statistical, behavioral-sentimental, technical, fundamental, and economic data sources to time equity market exposure and trade volatility-related instruments. The firm is controlled by the Hull family through Hull Investments, LLC — a multi-generational family office — and is led by Founder and Chairman Blair Hull (formerly founder/CEO of Hull Trading Company, sold to Goldman Sachs in 1999), CEO Petra Bakosova, and COO Petri Fast.

The firm's investment methodology combines six- and one-month equity risk premium forecasting models (with walk-forward simulation and elastic-net / boosting / bagging / tree-based methods implemented in R using caret and mlr packages), a risk-reversal premium strategy trading OTM index options, a seasonal anomaly/trend overlay (Sell-in-May, Turn-of-Month, FOMC drift, State-Dependent Momentum), and a blended-signal allocator that re-weights models daily. Supporting products include a daily market-timing report (published since at least 2016), a strategy performance archive, and an interactive "Talk to Blair" StoryFiles feature. Research is anchored in published papers in The Journal of Portfolio Management, The Journal of Investment Strategies, and SSRN.

Revenue is generated through advisory fees on ETF AUM under a subscription/recurring model typical of the ETF industry, though no specific fee schedule, AUM, or revenue figure is publicly disclosed. Distribution is direct-to-consumer through standard brokerage platforms, supported by content marketing (blog, daily reports, press coverage) and a community-engagement strategy (e.g., a $100K Kaggle competition launched September 2025). The firm's named customer segment is "Institutional and Sophisticated Investors" seeking tactical allocation, but no enterprise customer logos are disclosed and customer concentration is structurally diffuse given the ETF wrapper.

Name

Hull Tactical Asset Allocation

Legal name

HTAA, LLC

Website

https://hulltactical.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Hull Tactical Asset Allocation is a privately held Chicago-based Registered Investment Adviser that uses ensemble quantitative models (statistical, behavioral, technical, fundamental, economic) to time equity exposure and trade volatility, delivering its strategy through a single actively managed ETF for retail and institutional investors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Quantitative Asset Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Portfolio Construction & Asset Allocation Advisory (FSAEAAAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Multi-Strategy — Quant/Systematic Multi-Strategy (FSAHAFAH), Volatility & Options Macro (FSAHABAG), Cross-Asset Macro Relative Value (RV) (FSAHABAH)

Keywords

• Quantitative asset management
• Tactical asset allocation
• Actively managed ETF
• Market timing strategies
• Volatility forecasting

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Advisory Fees: HTAA operates as a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) serving as an advisor to an actively managed ETF. Revenue is generated through advisory fees charged for asset management services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Hull Tactical Asset Allocation operates as a Registered Investment Adviser serving as advisor to an actively managed ETF. The firm deploys ensemble quantitative models combining statistical, behavioral-sentimental, technical, fundamental, and economic data signals, stress-tested over more than 20 years of historical data, to tactically allocate the ETF between equity exposure and cash and to trade index options for volatility premium capture. Supporting distribution includes a daily market-timing report and an interactive StoryFiles feature.

Product overview

Hull Tactical Asset Allocation operates as a single-platform quantitative asset management firm offering an actively managed ETF as its core product. The firm provides institutional-grade market timing and volatility prediction strategies, accessible through an actively managed ETF vehicle. Supporting products include a Daily Report delivering real-time equity risk premium forecasts, a Market Timing Strategy using ensemble modeling across multiple signal types, Strategy Performance reporting, and an interactive 'Talk to Blair' feature. The entire offering is research-driven, with academic publications supporting the investment methodology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HTAA Actively Managed ETF Actively managed ETF advised by HTAA that uses advanced algorithms and macro/technical indicators to anticipate future market returns, with strategies stress tested on over 20 years of historical data and evolved from tactical allocation models traded at Hull Investments. Made available to investors via standard brokerage distribution.

Quantifiable outcome

• Simulated strategy yields more than twice the annual returns of buy-and-hold with four times the Sharpe ratio using six-month horizon model
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature7 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• AQR Capital Management: Large systematic asset manager with a broad product set spanning long-only, alternative, and ETF strategies across value, momentum, and risk-premium factors. Overlaps with HTAA's quant multi-strategy and factor-based approach but at materially greater scale and breadth.
• WisdomTree: Large ETF sponsor with quantitatively driven and rules-based strategies across equities, alternatives, and tactical allocation themes. Competes for the same tactical ETF investor mindshare despite a much broader product portfolio.
• Dimensional Fund Advisors: Large systematic asset manager built on academic factor research (Fama-French tradition) offering multi-asset and ETF products. Adjacent in methodology but vastly larger in scale and product breadth.
• Man Group (AHL): Global quantitative asset manager with the AHL systematic trading platform; offers multi-strategy, volatility, and trend-following products that overlap with HTAA's systematic multi-asset and options-based strategies.
• Goldman Sachs Asset Management (Quantitative Strategies): Acquired Hull Trading Company in 1999 and operates systematic quantitative strategies today; overlaps with HTAA's methodology given the shared heritage, though at vastly different scale and product breadth.

Direct peers

• Toews Corporation: Tactical asset allocation firm offering Toews ETFs that shift between risk-on and risk-off assets using quantitative signals. Directly comparable to HTAA's market-timing ETF thesis and serves the same retail-advisor investor base.
• Bridgeway Capital Management: Systematic, quantitatively driven mutual fund manager using multi-factor and statistical models. Comparable as a small-to-mid-size quantitative asset manager running rules-based strategies across equity portfolios.
• Alpha Architect: Quantitative ETF issuer focused on factor-based and tactical strategies built on academic factor research — directly competes with HTAA for advisor-sold tactical ETF allocations with similar academic pedigree and target audience.
• Cambria Investment Management: Boutique tactical and rules-based ETF issuer offering multiple actively managed ETFs that use quantitative and behavioral signals for tactical allocation — a near-direct competitor to HTAA's single-product ETF strategy for advisor and self-directed investor dollars.

Emerging players

• QMA LLC: Quantitative equity manager focused on factor-based and systematic strategies for institutional and intermediary clients. Overlaps with HTAA on quantitative factor investing and tactical allocation philosophy, though operating at a different scale and distribution model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hull Tactical Asset Allocation