ETF Evaluator: MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF () Follow This ETF

MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF Overview

MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF (TRIO) is an actively managed Nontraditional Equity Equity Hedged exchange-traded fund (ETF). McCarthy & Cox Retirement & Estate Specialists, LLC launched the ETF in 2025.

The investment seeks to achieve capital appreciation with limited downside protection. The fund is an actively managed ETF that seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in a combination of exchange-traded options contracts that provide exposure to ETFs that invest in U.S. large-capitalization, U.S. small-capitalization, and international developed market equity securities, while seeking to protect against a predetermined amount of losses (e.g., 10%) in such ETFs. The fund is non-diversified.

About MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF (TRIO)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 1.41 years: Lawrence Lempert (2025), Wesley Bean (2025) and Previn Pandey (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF has 15 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 217.3% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Nontraditional Equity ETF group. MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF has 29.5% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 165.9% There is 29.5% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF has -95.3% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $120 million in total assets, which is below the $294 million average for the Equity Hedged 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.

TRIO 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 MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Equity Hedged category. MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF has an expense ratio of 0.70%, which is 8% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. 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. MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 101%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 97% for the Equity Hedged category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF returned 0.4%, which earned it a grade of B, as the Equity Hedged category had an average return of -1.4%. 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.

MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF has a trailing yield of 0.00%, which is below the 3.45% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually 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.

MC Trio Equity Buffered ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 6.4%, 0.7 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 12.2% over the past year (grade of C).

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