ETF Evaluator:
Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF ()
Follow This ETF
(as of Aug 26)
Best Performing in Commodities Broad Basket Over the Last Year
| 54.6% | VanEck Commodity Strategy ETF (PIT) |
| 44.8% | DB Commodity Long ETN (DPU) |
| 40.4% | iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (GSG) |
| 40.1% | iPath® Bloomberg Cmdty TR ETN (DJP) |
| 39.9% | Harbor Commodity All-Weather StrategyETF (HGER) |
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Risk
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ETF Details
Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF Overview
Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF (HARD) is an actively managed Commodities Commodities Broad Basket exchange-traded fund (ETF). Simplify Asset Management launched the ETF in 2023.
The investment seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation.
The adviser seeks to achieve the fund’s investment objective by investing in commodity futures contracts. Under normal market conditions, the fund invests in a portfolio of futures contracts on commodities and commodity indices. The advisor attempts to capture the economic benefit derived from rising trends based on the price changes of the futures contracts.
About Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF (HARD)
There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 2.95 years: Paisley Nardini (2024), Ken Miller (2023), David Berns (2023) and Michael Green (2023). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.
The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US Agg Bond TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Bloomberg Commodity TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF has 25 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 87.8% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.
Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF is part of the Real Assets global asset class and is within the Commodities ETF group. Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF has 0.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0% There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 15.5% (15.5% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF has 37.1% of the portfolio in cash.
Assets Under Management
The fund has $82 million in total assets, which is below the $831 million average for the Commodities Broad Basket category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.
HARD Performance and Fees
The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Commodities Broad Basket category. Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF has an expense ratio of 0.78%, which is 18% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.
High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 0%, which indicates that it holds its assets around /years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 26% for the Commodities Broad Basket category.
Recently, in the month of July 2026, Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF returned 6.7%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Commodities Broad Basket category had an average return of 6.9%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.
Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF has a trailing yield of 3.70%, which is below the 5.12% category average.
The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains annually.
It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.
Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF Grades
Year to date, the ETF has returned 8.5%, 13.6 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 16.4% over the past year (grade of F) and 10.9% over the past three years (grade of D).
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HARD Trailing NAV Total Returns Data as of 7/31/26
| Last Month |
Last Quarter |
Ann'l. 1Yr |
Ann'l. 3Yr |
Ann'l. 5Yr |
Ann'l. 10Yr |
|
| HARD Return (NAV) | 6.7% | -13.0% | 16.4% | 10.9% | na | na |
| HARD Return (Price) | 6.8% | -15.0% | 16.5% | 10.9% | na | na |
| NAV +/- Price Return | -0.140% | 1.981% | -0.149% | -0.012% | na | na |
| Commodities Broad Basket Avg | 6.9% | -4.5% | 31.7% | 13.2% | 11.6% | 8.6% |
| HARD Grade (NAV) | D | F | F | D | na | na |
| +/- Category (NAV) | -0.2% | -8.5% | -15.3% | -2.3% | na | na |
| HARD Tax-Cost Ratio | na | na | 1.6% | 1.4% | na | na |
HARD Annual NAV Total ReturnsData as of 7/31/26
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| HARD Return (NAV) | 8.5% | 14.9% | 19.0% | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na |
| HARD Return (Price) | 8.9% | 13.2% | 20.5% | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na |
| NAV +/- Price Ret | 0.042% | -0.111% | 0.080% | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na |
| Commodities Broad Basket Avg | 22.1% | 15.5% | 7.4% | -4.2% | 15.9% | 31.9% | -4.8% | 7.3% | -10.7% | 5.9% | 11.7% |
| HARD Grade (NAV) | F | C | A | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na |
| +/- Category | -13.6% | -0.7% | 11.6% | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na |
| Risk Measures | |
| Beta: | 0.90 |
| R-Squared: | 55% |
| Standard Deviation: | 16.4% |
| Category Risk Index: | 1.14 |
| Category Risk Rating: | High |
| Total Risk Index: | 1.34 |
| Total Risk Rating: | Above Average |
| Portfolio Characteristics | |
| Yield: | 3.7% |
| Total Assets: | $ 83 Mil |
| Share Class Assets: | $ 83 Mil |
| Turnover: | 0.0% |
| Expense Ratio: | 0.78% |
| Index Fund: | No |
| Index Tracked: | Bloomberg US Agg Bond TR USD |
| Index Weighting: | 100% |
| Leveraged: | No |
| Socially Responsible Fund: | No |
| Capital Gains Distribution Frequency: | Annually |
| Income Distribution Frequency: | Quarterly |
Management Team
| Number of Managers: 4 | |||
| Longest Tenure: 3.4 years | |||
| Average Tenure: 3.0 years | |||
| Managers (Year): Miller Ken (2023), Berns David (2023), Green Michael (2023), Nardini Paisley (2024) | |||
Portfolio Composition (as of 7/31/26)
| # of Holdings: | 25 |
| % in Top 10 Holdings: | 87.8% |
| Fund is Non-Diversified: | No |
| % in Foreign Issues: | 0.0% |
Portfolio Allocation |
|
| Domestic Stock: | 0.0% |
| Foreign Stock: | 0.0% |
| Preferred Stock: | 0.0% |
| Domestic Bond: | 15.5% |
| Foreign Bond: | 0.0% |
| Convertible Bond: | 0.0% |
| Other: | 47.4% |
| Cash: | 37.1% |
Purchase Information
| Legal Structure: | Open Ended Investment Company |
| Fund Family: | Simplify Asset Management |
| Phone Number: | 855-772-8488 |
| Website: | |
| Inception Date: | March 27, 2023 |
Expenses and Fees
| Expense Ratio (%): | 0.78% (Rating: Above Avg) |
| Category Average Expense Ratio (%): | 0.66% |