Board/The rate regime/DEFR

DEFR

Aptus Deferred Income ETF

Aptus · $148.0m in assets, October 8, 2026

An actively managed ETF: rather than owning bonds, it uses options, total return swaps, Treasury bills and box spreads to match the risk of the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index in a more tax-efficient form.

DEFR, the Aptus Deferred Income ETF, is a $148 million ETF whose main story is the rate regime. Over the past year it returned −1.2%, against +16.8% for broad US ETFs. Figures to October 2, 2026; past performance, not a recommendation.

DEFR · the ETFFRI OCT 2Market price total return
+3.1% a yearTotal return since launch, May 2025
−1.2%Last 12 months
−2.4%Year to date
5.2%Volatility since launch

The narrative it carries

This is its only narrative.

The rate regime →

Bonds, cash and Treasuries: the interest rates every other asset is priced against.

The rate regime · the narrative this week
57.8HOT level, 3 of 22
last four weeks
424ETFs carry it
27.8%held by the top five
BNDlargest holder, 7.6%
$1,607 bncapital, 2nd of 22

The band is where this narrative’s level sits among the 22 this week. QUIET means less talked about, not falling.

Who owns the capital
BND 7.6%SGOV 7.5%AGG 6.3%BIL 3.3%TLT 3.1%419 other ETFs 72.2%27.8%top five
#ETFSHAREASSETS1 YEARCOST
1BND7.6%$161.78bn−2.1%0.03%
2SGOV7.5%$112.26bn+3.8%0.09%
3AGG6.3%$135.65bn−2.2%0.03%
4BIL3.3%$49.79bn+3.7%0.14%
5TLT3.1%$46.23bn−9.5%0.15%
419 other ETFs72.2%
DEFR: 0.0%

Share is each ETF’s slice of the capital carrying this narrative. 1 year is market price total return; cost is the expense ratio. See all 424 ETFs on the narrative page →

FRI OCT 2MARKET PRICE TOTAL RETURN

1M3MYTD1Y3Y*5Y*
DEFR−1.9%−2.4%−2.4%−1.2%––
The rate regimeits narrative−1.6%−2.2%−1.2%−0.6%+4.3%+0.5%
The marketbroad US ETFs+0.8%+2.6%+14.6%+16.8%+22.9%+12.9%

1M, 3M, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y: one month to five years. YTD: year to date. * A year, annualised. A dash means the ETF has not traded for the whole period. Since it started trading on May 14, 2025: +3.1% a year.

$10,000 invested May 31, 2025

DEFR $10,345The rate regime $10,254The market $13,360
$10,000$20,000May 2025Nov 2025May 2026$10,000$20,000May 2025May 2026

Total return on the market price, with each distribution reinvested on its ex-date. Not the NAV return the issuer publishes; the two differ when the ETF trades above or below the value of its holdings. The narrative is the asset-weighted return of the unlevered ETFs that carry it. The market is the asset-weighted return of broad US index ETFs. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Common questions

What story is DEFR selling?

DEFR’s main story is the rate regime, which covers bonds, cash and Treasuries: the interest rates every other asset is priced against.

Which ETFs compete with DEFR?

The ETFs whose weekly returns move most like DEFR’s over the past 3 years are BIV (0.95), PTRB (0.95) and DBND (0.94).

How has DEFR performed against its story?

Over the past year DEFR returned −1.2%, the ETFs carrying the rate regime −0.6% and broad US ETFs +16.8%, to October 2, 2026. Its weekly returns have a correlation of 0.94 with the story. Past performance only.

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Narrative figures are from the weekly board. Performance is market price total return as of October 2, 2026. Assets are StoryVector’s weekly figure. Classification and measurement. Not investment advice. How the measurement works →