UPDATE: LISTED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

WisdomTree Cybersecurity Fund

Ticker: WCBR
Exchange: NASDAQ Stock Market LLC
Expense ratio: 0.45%
Original filing date: October 14, 2020
Effective date: January 15, 2021
Listing Date: January 29, 2021
CUSIP:
 
Active: No
Index: WisdomTree Team8 Cybersecurity Index
Investment Objective: WCBR seeks to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree Team8 Cybersecurity Index.

Investment Strategy: 

The WisdomTree Team8 Cybersecurity Index is designed to track the performance of companies primarily involved in providing cyber security-oriented products that meet Index eligibility requirements. The Index was established on October 30, 2020.

Constituents: 25
 
Adviser: WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc.
Sub-Adviser: Mellon Investments Corporation
 
Prospectus is here.

Index Methodology:

https://www.wisdomtree.com/-/media/us-media-files/documents/resource-library/pdf/research/methodologies/core-equity-index-methodology.pdf

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Principal Investment Strategies of the Fund

The Index is designed to provide exposure to equity securities of exchange-listed companies globally, which are primarily involved in cybersecurity and security-oriented technology that generate a meaningful part of their revenue from security protocols that prevent intrusion and attacks to systems, networks, applications, computers, and mobile devices (collectively, “cybersecurity activities”) and are experiencing revenue growth. The cybersecurity themes used as guidelines to determine if a company is primarily involved in cybersecurity activities are described in detail in the “Additional Information About the Fund’s Investment Strategies” section of the Prospectus.

To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must meet the following criteria as of the Index screening date: 

(i) derive at least 50% of their revenue from cybersecurity activities; 

(ii) revenue growth greater than or equal to 7% over the trailing three years for new constituents and revenue growth greater than or equal to 5% over the trailing three years for existing Index constituents; 

(iii) market capitalization of at least $300 million; and 

(iv) have an average daily dollar trading volume of at least $1 million for each of the preceding three months.

The Index is reconstituted and rebalanced semi-annually. As of December 31, 2020, companies in the information technology sector comprised a significant portion of the Index.

PGIM Active Aggregate Bond ETF

Ticker: PAB
Exchange: NYSE Arca
Expense ratio: 0.19%
Original filing date: January 26, 2021
Effective date: April 12, 2021
Listing Date: TBD
CUSIP: 69344A701
 
Active: Yes
Index: Not applicable

Investment Objective: Total return, through a combination of current income and capital appreciation.

Investment Strategy: 

Top-down economic analysis and bottom-up research in conjunction with proprietary quantitative models and risk management systems.

Constituents: Universe: Investment grade US dollar bonds, mostly but not limited to  those in the Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index.

 
Adviser: PGIM Investments LLC
Sub-Adviser: PGIM Fixed Income
 
 
Prospectus is here.

Final prospectus dated April 12, 2021 is here.
 

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INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND INVESTMENTS

The investment objective of the Fund is to seek total return, through a combination of current income and capital appreciation. The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund's investable assets in bonds. For purposes of this policy, bonds include all fixed income securities, including but not limited to debt obligations issued by the US government and its agencies, corporate debt securities, mortgage-related securities and asset-backed securities (including collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations). In pursuit of this policy, the Fund may invest a large percentage of its investable assets in securities included in the Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index (the Index). 

The Index invests in a wide spectrum of public, investment-grade, taxable, fixed income securities in the United States – including government, corporate, and international US dollar-denominated bonds, as well as mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, all with maturities of more than 1 year. The Fund is not sponsored by or affiliated with Bloomberg. The term “investable assets” refers to the Fund's net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes. The Fund's investable assets will be less than its total assets to the extent that it has borrowed money for non-investment purposes, such as to meet anticipated redemptions. The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) and, thus, does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index.

The Fund invests only in securities that are denominated in US dollars. The Fund may invest up to 25% of its investable assets in US dollar-denominated fixed income securities issued by foreign issuers, including emerging markets. Foreign government fixed income securities include securities issued by quasi-governmental entities, governmental agencies and instrumentalities, supranational entities and other governmental entities.

In managing the Fund’s assets, the subadviser uses a combination of top-down economic analysis and bottom-up research in conjunction with proprietary quantitative models and risk management systems. In the top-down economic analysis, the subadviser develops views on economic, policy and market trends. In its bottom-up research, the subadviser develops an internal rating and outlook on issuers. The rating and outlook are determined based on a thorough review of the financial health and trends of the issuer. The subadviser may also consider investment factors such as expected total return, yield, spread and potential for price appreciation as well as credit quality, maturity and risk. The Fund may invest in a security based upon the expected total return rather than the yield of such security.

The Fund invests in securities that are rated investment grade at the time of purchase.  Investment grade securities are considered to be those instruments that are rated BBB- or higher by S&P Global Ratings (S&P), or Baa3 or higher by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (Moody’s), or the equivalent by another nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO), or if unrated, are considered by the Fund’s subadviser to be of comparable quality.  A rating is an assessment of the likelihood of the timely payment of interest and repayment of principal and can be useful when comparing different debt obligations. These ratings are not a guarantee of quality. The opinions of the rating agencies do not reflect market risk and they may, at times, lag behind the current financial condition of a company. In the event that a security receives different ratings from different NRSROs, the Fund will treat the security as being rated in the highest rating category received from an NRSRO.

If the rating of a debt security is downgraded after the Fund purchases it (or if the debt security is no longer rated), the Fund will not have to sell the security, but the subadviser will take this into consideration in deciding whether the Fund should continue to hold the security.

The Fund may invest in debt obligations issued or guaranteed by the US Government and US Government-related entities. Some (but not all) of these debt securities such as US Treasury securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the US Government, which means that payment of interest and principal is guaranteed, but yield and market value are not. These also include obligations of the GNMA. Debt securities issued by other government entities, like obligations of the FNMA and the SLMA, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the US Government. However, these issuers have the right to borrow from the US Treasury to meet their obligations. In contrast, the debt securities of other issuers, like the Farm Credit System, depend entirely upon their own resources to repay their debt obligations.

The Fund invests in mortgage-related securities issued or guaranteed by US governmental entities or private issuers. These securities are usually pass-through instruments that pay investors a share of all interest and principal payments from an underlying pool of fixed or adjustable rate mortgages. Mortgage-related securities issued by the US Government include GNMAs and mortgage-related securities issued by agencies of the US Government as well as FNMAs and debt securities issued by FHLMC. Privately issued mortgage-related securities that are not guaranteed by US governmental entities generally have one or more types of credit enhancement to ensure timely receipt of payments and to protect against default. Private issuer mortgage-backed securities may include loans on commercial or residential properties.

Mortgage pass-through securities include collateralized mortgage obligations, multi-class pass-through securities and stripped mortgage-backed securities. A collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) is a security backed by an underlying portfolio of mortgages or mortgage-backed securities that may be issued or guaranteed by a bank or by US governmental entities. A multi-class pass-through security is an equity interest in a trust composed of underlying mortgage assets. Payments of principal of and interest on the mortgage assets and any reinvestment income thereon provide funds to pay debt service on the CMO or to make scheduled distributions on the multi-class pass-through security. A stripped mortgage-backed security (MBS strip) may be issued by US governmental entities or by private institutions. MBS strips take the pieces of a debt security (principal and interest) and break them apart. The resulting securities may be sold separately and may perform differently.

The Fund may invest in asset-backed securities. An asset-backed security is another type of pass-through instrument that pays interest based upon the cash flow of an underlying pool of assets, such as automobile loans or credit card receivables. Asset-backed securities can also be collateralized by a portfolio of corporate debt, including bonds, junk bonds, corporate loans, or other types of corporate debt securities.

The Fund engages in active trading—that is, frequent trading of its securities—in order to take advantage of new investment opportunities or yield differentials. The Fund expects to be more heavily involved in active trading during periods of market volatility seeking to preserve gains or limit losses.

Adaptive Growth Opportunities ETF

Ticker: AGOX
Exchange: NYSE Arca
Expense ratio: 1.55% (close to source mutual fund's institutional class fees)
Original filing date: October 7, 2020
Effective date: December 29, 2020
Listing Date: May 10, 2021
CUSIP: 85521B742

 
Active: Yes
Index: Not applicable

Constituents: Global and all market cap.

Investment Objective: Capital appreciation

Investment Strategy: Macro top-down analysis, investing in ETFs.

Adviser: Cavalier Investments, LLC d/b/a Adaptive Investments
Sub-Adviser: Bluestone Capital Management, LLC
Portfolio Managers:

Brian Shevland portfolio manager.

Administrator: The Nottingham Company
Fund accountant: Nottingham Shareholder Services LLC
Transfer agent: Nottingham Shareholder Services, LLC
Custodian: Clear Street, LLC
Distributor: Capital Investment Group, Inc.
Legal counsel: Greenberg Traurig LLP
External accounting: BBD, LLP,
Compliance: The Nottingham Company, Inc.

 
Prospectus is here.
 UPDATE: Registration statement.

Adaptive Growth mutual fund CATEX webpage is here.

Originally launched in 2012, has returned around 13% since inception.

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• LinkedIn: Henry Jim
• henry@etfhearsay.com
• Twitter: @ETFhearsay

factor in making investment decisions.

Acruence Active Hedge U.S. Equity ETF

Ticker: XVOL
Exchange: NYSE arca
Expense ratio: 0.83%
Original filing date: January 20, 2021
Effective date: April 5, 2021
Listing Date: April 22, 2021
CUSIP: 886364744
 
Active: Yes
Index: Not Applicable

Investment Objective: Capital appreciation with reduced volatility relative to S&P 500.

Investment Strategy: Invest in S&P 500 constituents and VIX options.

VIX options:

• via Cayman Islands subsidiary, up to 20% fund's assets
• do not generate good income to qualify as RIC
• < 6 months maturity
• Monthly basis duration, possible weekly
• Primarily call options, put options possible
• 1/12 of annual allocation of 2% to 5% of fund's assets

 
Adviser: Toroso Investments, LLC
Sub-Adviser: Acruence Capital, LLC (Rob Emrich III, founder)

 
Constituents: S&P 500 constituents + VIX options with <6 months m
Prospectus is here.

Prospectus update is here.
 

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vestors.

Gabelli ETFs go effective. 

Initial lineup of nine ETFs:

GGRW Gabelli Growth Innovators ETF
GABF Gabelli Financial Services ETF
GABS Gabelli Global Small Cap ETF
GSMD Gabelli Small & Mid Cap ETF
GMRO Gabelli Micro Cap ETF
LOPP Gabelli Love Our Planet & People ETF
GAST Gabelli Asset ETF
GABE Gabelli Equity Income ETF
GGRE Gabelli Green Energy ETF

LOPP was announced last year to be launched as an ActiveShares with the Precidian model, but did not do so. Instead, it is now launching with a waiver of all management fees! Remaining eight ETs have expense ratio of 0.90%.

Prospectus is here.

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As reported by Bloomberg: First in ETF history: conversion of a hedge fund into an ETF:

UPHOLDINGS Compound Kings ETF (Cboe: KNGS)

Summary:

Aims to outperform the S&P 500 by investing in about 30 US and Chinese companies that have high rates of cash reinvestment.

While appealing to the retail investor with an expense ratio of only 0.60%, KNGS will need to grow fast as it is earning only $15,000 a year in gross revenue on its current AUM.

Exchange: Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.

Expense ratio: 0.60%

Original filing date: September 15, 2020

Effective date: November 30, 2020

Listing Date: December 30, 2020

CUSIP: 02072L854

Active: Yes

Index: N/A

Investment Objective: The UPHOLDINGS Compound Kings ETF seeks to provide long-term capital growth. Income is a secondary objective.

Benchmark: S&P 500

Investment Strategy: See below

Adviser: Empowered Funds, LLC

Sub-Adviser: Upholdings Group LLC

Holdings: 30

 

Prospectus is here.

People behind KNGS:

Robert Cantwell, Founder of Upholdings, has been primarily and jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund since its inception. Mr. Cantwell provides his recommendations to Mr. Brandon Koepke, Portfolio Manager of the Adviser, who, since the Fund's inception is also primarily and jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund.

Upholdings on LinkedIn

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From the fund's filing on SEC.gov:

The Fund is an actively-managed exchange-traded fund ("ETF") that seeks to achieve its investment objectives by investing in securities that the Fund's Adviser and Sub-Adviser (Upholdings) believe offer the most attractive risk and return potential. Upholdings selects investments for the Fund's portfolio based on its own proprietary research.

The Fund's Investment Strategy

The Fund generally invests in securities that Upholdings believes have the potential to compound at a higher rate than the S&P 500 Index over multi-year periods. In most cases, Upholdings identifies companies that have been reinvesting their own cash flow at above average rates of return. If, based on Upholding's analysis, the shares of a particular company are trading at a fair level compared to Upholding's estimate of the company's intrinsic value, Upholdings will generally recommend that the Fund purchase that company's shares. To calculate intrinsic value, Upholdings constructs long-term financial models to estimate cashflow generation and the resulting shareholder value. To do so, Upholdings uses an array of publicly available data - earnings call transcripts, publicly disclosed financials, and industry consultants. Upholdings then estimates intrinsic value by discounting the estimated future value into a current valuation.

The Fund will be considered non-diversified, which means that it may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were a diversified fund. The Fund generally anticipates holding approximately thirty (30) securities.

The Fund may sell securities for a variety of reasons, such as to seek to secure gains, limit losses, or redeploy assets into more promising opportunities.

Additionally, the Fund may, from time to time, deviate from the foregoing investment process if Upholdings believes a particular security has the potential to increase in value based on unique circumstances.

The Fund will invest at least 60% of its total net assets in equity securities of companies of medium and large market capitalizations located in both the United States and China, primarily via Hong Kong listed securities. The Fund will also invest in other international markets, including emerging markets.

In addition to securities of operating companies, Upholdings may recommend that the Fund invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs), business development companies (BDCs), convertible securities, preferred stocks, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). When doing so, Upholdings follows the same research process: determine how much cash the entities can generate and whether there are opportunities for management to continue to reinvest at above average rates of return. The Fund may also hold U.S. government securities, bonds, cash, and cash equivalents for defensive purposes and during periods when the Upholdings is unable to identify securities that meet its investment criteria. Absent unusual market conditions, the Fund does not intend to maintain large cash balances for prolonged periods.

REITs are pooled investment vehicles that invest primarily in income-producing real estate or real estate-related loans or interests. BDCs are registered closed-end investment companies that have elected to be regulated as "business development companies" under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "1940 Act"). Convertible securities are usually preferred stocks or corporate bonds that can be exchanged for a set number of shares of common stock at a predetermined price. Preferred stock is a class of stock that pays dividends before common stock dividend payments are made and may be convertible to common stock. U.S. government securities include securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities. ETFs may include both actively- and passively-managed ETFs. In addition to U.S. government securities, bonds may include a broad array of short-, medium-, and long-term obligations issued by corporate and private issuers of various types. Cash equivalents may include commercial paper and short-term debt instruments.

The Fund may also invest, to a lesser extent, in privately offered securities to seek to achieve its investment objectives subject to the limitations of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "1940 Act") and regulations thereunder. Privately offered securities often are illiquid and may be difficult to value, as more fully described below.

JPMorgan Emerging Markets Equity Core ETF

SUMMARY

Actively-managed but aims to hug MSCI EM index. Thus, it's an EM index fund with some investment latitude.

ANALYSIS

Completes JPM's ETF lineup. Offers its distributors a complete investment solution package now. With JPM's established and captive distribution network, and at less than half the management fees of iShares' EEM (0.70%), this is sure to grab a big chunk of market share. From an investment perspective, the timing is right as established investors rebalance their portfolios, and the social media-driven retail market dips its toes into the market in general.

Ticker: JEMA

Exchange: Cboe

Expense ratio: 0.33%

Original filing date: December 18, 2020

Effective date: March 3, 2021

Listing Date: March 11, 2021

CUSIP: 46641Q266

Active: Yes

Index / Benchmark: MSCI Emerging Markets Index net of foreign withholding taxes

Investment Objective: The Fund seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation.

Investment Strategy: 

Portfolio of holdings that will outperform the Benchmark over time while maintaining similar risk characteristics, including sector and geographic risks.

Both a top down and bottom up research process as well as a combination of fundamental and quantitative inputs to allocate the Fund’s assets among a range of sectors.

Adviser: J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc.

Sub-Adviser: None

Constituents: TBD 

Geographical scope: (by exclusion) - Countries in the world except:

• Australia
• Canada
• Japan
• New Zealand
• the United Kingdom
• the United States
• most of the countries of Western Europe
• Hong Kong

Prospectus is here.

Portfolio Managers: Anuj Arora and Joyce Weng

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Main investment strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its Assets in equity securities and equity-related instruments that are tied economically to emerging markets. “Assets” means net assets, plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes. 

Emerging markets include most countries in the world except Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, most of the countries of Western Europe and Hong Kong, although the Fund may invest in securities tied to those countries as well.

The Fund’s investments represent allocations to a variety of the adviser’s actively managed emerging market equity strategies, including country, region and style strategies, among others.

The Fund will overweight or underweight countries and sectors relative to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (net of foreign withholding taxes). 

In implementing its strategy, the Fund seeks to construct a portfolio of holdings that will outperform the Benchmark over time while maintaining similar risk characteristics, including sector and geographic risks.

The equity securities and equity-related instruments in which the Fund may invest include, but are not limited to, common stock, participation notes or other structured notes, and other instruments that provide economic exposure to one or more equity securities.

The Fund may invest in securities across all market capitalizations, although the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies of any one particular market capitalization category.

Securities and equity-related instruments tied economically to an emerging market include: 

(i) securities of issuers that are organized under the laws of an emerging markets country or that maintain their principal place of business in an emerging markets country; 

(ii) securities that are traded principally in an emerging market country; 

(iii) securities of issuers that, during their most recent fiscal year, derived at least 50% of their revenues or profits from goods produced or sold, investments made, or services performed in an emerging markets country or that have at least 50% of their assets in an emerging market country; or 

(iv) securities or other instruments that expose the Fund to the economic fortunes and risks of one or more emerging market countries.

There is no limit on the number of countries in which the Fund may invest, and the Fund may focus its investments in a single country or a small group of countries 

The Fund may use exchange-traded funds to gain exposure to particular foreign securities or markets and for the efficient management of cash flows.

The Fund may invest in securities denominated in any currency and will invest substantially in securities denominated in foreign currencies.

Derivatives, which are instruments that have a value based on another instrument, exchange rate or index, may also be used as substitutes for securities in which the Fund can invest. 

The Fund may utilize currency forwards (including nondeliverable forwards) to manage currency exposures, where practical, for the purpose of risk management, including hedging non-dollar currency exposure back to the U.S. dollar. 

The Fund may also use exchanged-traded futures for the efficient management of cash flows.

Investment Process

In managing the Fund, the adviser uses both a top down and bottom up research process as well as a combination of fundamental and quantitative inputs to allocate the Fund’s assets among a range of sectors.

In buying and selling investments for the Fund, the adviser looks for market sectors and individual securities that it believes will perform well over time. 

The adviser selects individual securities after performing a risk/reward analysis to address the Fund’s objective of providing a high total return. Research produced by the adviser includes in-depth, fundamental research into individual securities conducted by research analysts, who emphasize each issuer’s long-term prospects, and disciplined top-down macro and quantitative research using the latest technology available to the firm. 

Research analysts use their local expertise to identify, research, and rank companies according to their expected performance. As a part of this analysis, research analysts seek to assess the risks presented by certain environmental, social and governance factors. 

While these particular risks are considered, securities of issuers presenting such risks may be purchased and retained by the Fund.