ETF Intel Q&A: Horizon Investments

Gabrielle Vennitti, Senior Manager of ETF Listings at Nasdaq, speaks with Clark Allen, CFA®, CPA, CAIA®, Head of Product, Horizon Investments, about Horizon’s goals-based investing philosophy and the role of outcome-oriented ETFs across the investor lifecycle.

1. Could you elaborate on how the Horizon Nasdaq-100 Defined Risk ETF (QGRD) and Horizon Digital Frontier ETF (YNOT), both listed in 2025, integrate into your broader “Goals-Based Framework”?
   Horizon’s ETFs complement our existing goals-based offerings, giving financial advisors another investment option to help their investors pursue what matters most.

   We intentionally design each fund to support specific stages of our Accumulation, Preservation, and Distribution framework: growing wealth, protecting assets, or preparing for retirement. This structure helps financial advisors build portfolios aligned with client goals and use tools that enable more personalized, purpose-driven investment experiences.

   QGRD aligns with the Preservation stage. It provides exposure to the Nasdaq-100 while actively managing downside risk through options strategies. This ETF may be appropriate for investors who want to remain invested in growth markets without compromising progress toward long-term goals.

   YNOT aligns with the Accumulation stage, providing intelligent exposure to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the broader digital frontier. Rather than offering a static AI allocation, YNOT is designed to adapt as innovation evolves, allocating across the AI ecosystem and adjacent technologies market leadership changes. This approach allows advisors to incorporate forward-looking growth in a more diversified mannerwhile balancing opportunity and risk.

   QGRD and YNOT offer intentional, outcome-based portfolios that help advisors connect investment solutions directly to what matters most to investors: pursuing their financial goals.

2. How has Horizon successfully navigated these stages over the past year?
   In 2025, we navigated the markets at each stage by staying outcome-focused through a volatile, rotation-heavy market:

• Accumulation: We remained risk-on while providing clients with balanced, tactical exposure to AI and innovation themes, complemented by international and cyclical positioning to manage concentration risk and capture broader market participation.
• Preservation: We actively de-risked during the April volatility spike, reducing equity exposure meaningfully as drawdowns and volatility triggered our Risk Assist® process, then allowed portfolios to participate as markets stabilized.
• Distribution: We focused on proactive management of the liquidity reserve and emphasized quality, diversification, and income resilience to keep clients on track through volatile, rotation-heavy markets.

3. From the past year, what is one major takeaway for your firm?
   Our biggest takeaway is that outcomes matter more than ever. Investors are increasingly focused not on what a product is called, but on its role in a portfolio and how it performs across different market environments. Heightened volatility, rapid market rotations, and shifting economic regimes have made it clear that traditional, one-size-fits-all allocations are no longer sufficient. As clients move through the Accumulation, Preservation, and Distribution phases, clear alignment among goals, risk, and portfolio role has become essential. That conviction continues to shape how we design and deliver solutions at Horizon.

4. Looking ahead into 2026, what are the most significant opportunities you foresee for your fund and the market overall?

   The launch of our ETFs reflects Horizon’s long-term commitment to innovation in the active ETF space, where we plan to continue delivering strategies that align with our goals-based philosophy. In 2026, we remain focused on providing solutions that address the evolving needs of advisors and the people they work with.

   Our ETF offerings continue to reflect the same disciplined approach we have always applied—whether in risk management, income generation, or liquidity solutions. We will continue to build on our expertise and work closely with financial advisors to develop strategies that meet real-world investment challenges.

   As markets remain uncertain, demand has continued to grow for outcome-oriented solutions with defined growth and preservation strategies, as well as more resilient income solutions. We believe Horizon is well-positioned to lead that shift with a fully integrated set of goals-based solutions.

Important Disclosures

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.  For a prospectus with this and other information about the fund, please visit horizonetfs.com or call (866) 371-2399. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. There is no assurance that the Fund will meet its objective. The ability of the Fund to meet its investment objective is directly related to the allocation of the Fund’s assets. Horizon may allocate the Fund’s investments so as to under-emphasize or over-emphasize investments at the wrong times or under the wrong market conditions, in which case the Fund’s value may be adversely affected. The market price of equity securities owned by the Fund may go down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Equity securities may decline in value due to factors affecting equity securities markets generally, particular industries represented by those markets, or factors directly related to a specific company, such as decisions made by its management.

Investments in options involve risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities, including leverage risk, tracking risk and, in the case of over the counter options, counterparty default risk. Option positions may expire worthless exposing the Fund to potentially significant losses

Diversification cannot assure a profit or protect against loss in a declining market.

Shares of any ETF are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.

Nasdaq 100 Index is a collection of the 100 largest, most actively traded companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

Horizon ETFs are distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC.