New And Noteworthy: 2 ETFs Join The Growing List Of Specialty Funds
Investing.com | Jul 22, 2021 09:38
Since the listing of the SPDR® S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) in 1992, the first exchange-traded fund in the US, the ETF market has grown rapidly. According to recent numbers from the Investment Company Institute, in the US, “the combined assets of … ETFs were $6.33 trillion in May.” Just a year ago, that number stood at $4.22 trillion.
Therefore, today we introduce two new funds that have recently started trading. Interested readers might want to do further diligence on these newcomers.
h2 1. VanEck Vectors Digital Transformation ETF/h2Current Price: $22.44
52-Week Range: $19.51 - $37.84
Expense Ratio: 0.65% per year
The VanEck Vectors® Digital Transformation ETF (NASDAQ:DAPP) invests in businesses that focus on digital assets, blockchain and related technologies. It began trading in April. It is a small fund, with only $28 million in total net assets.
DAPP has 25 holdings, and follows the MVIS Global Digital Assets Equity Index. In terms of its sectoral breakdown, the information technology sector makes up the highest portion of this ETF, with 72.3%. That is followed by financials and communication services, which account for 23.4% and 2.9%, respectively.
Firms from the US comprise the largest slice (57.36%). Next in line are firms from China (14.29%), Canada (14.06%) and the UK (5.18%). The top 10 holdings account for more than 64% of the fund.
Fintech darling Square (NYSE:SQ); Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN), the leading cryptocurrency exchange platform in the US that went public in 2021; cryptocurrency miners Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) and Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ:RIOT); as well as Canadian crypto-asset broker Voyager Digital (OTC:VYGVF) are among the leading names in the roster.
Since its inception, the fund is down more than 35%. Over the past several months, cryptocurrencies and many stocks that have exposure to such digital assets have come under significant pressure. Readers who are interested in the crypto space could consider using DAPP as a proxy for investing in such assets and buy the dips.
h2 2. Engine No. 1 Transform 500 ETF/h2Current Price: $51.67
52-Week Range: $50.17 - $52.00
Expense Ratio: 0.05% per year
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The Engine No. 1 Transform 500 ETF (NYSE:VOTE) focuses on activist investing, which can be a powerful agent “in shaping the corporate landscape and in creating value" at target companies.
In recent months, Engine No. 1 made headlines as it claimed seats on the board of ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM). Then, on June 22, it saw the inception of the VOTE fund by the group.
The ETF focuses on the largest 500 companies in the US. The fund's site highlights their activist approach:
“Rather than excluding companies that need to change, VOTE works to change them.”
In other words, the fund manager will use the shares owned in a given company in line with its environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investment philosophy.
VOTE, which has 510 holdings, tracks the returns of the Morningstar US Large Cap Select TR USD. In terms of the sub-sectoral breakdown, technology tops the list, with 28.67%. Next in line are health care (13.13%) and consumer discretionaries (11.91%). The fund’s top 10 stocks account for about 26% of net assets of $135 million.
Top holdings include Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG).
In the past month, VOTE is up about 2%. An activist fund using its shares to influence ESG standards could appeal to a range of readers. They might want to keep the fund on their radar.
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