7th Marijuana ETF Debuts

Global X entered the marijuana space with the launch of its latest fund. It’s undercutting many of its competitors.

Today the seventh ETF offering exposure to the legal marijuana space rolled out, marking Global X’s entrance into the increasingly crowded arena. The Global X Cannabis ETF (POTX) stands out for its lower price, though it is not the cheapest among its peers.

POTX comes with an expense ratio of 0.50% and lists on the Nasdaq exchange. Most marijuana-focused ETFs charge between 0.70% and 0.75%, and only the Cambria Cannabis ETF (TOKE) is cheaper than POTX, at 0.42%.

Methodology

POTX tracks an index that targets companies engaged in the legal production of marijuana and hemp products, companies that provide financial services to producers, companies involved in pharmaceutical applications of cannabis, companies involved in cannabidiol products and those that produce items that facilitate cannabis usage.

Companies must generate—or expect  to generate—at least half of their revenue, operating income or assets from cannabis-related business activities, meaning POTX is a pure play on the space. Companies expecting to see marijuana-related business lines represent half of their business in the future are subject to a 10% cap on their total weight in the index, according to the prospectus.

The document notes that eligible companies must have at least $100 million in market capitalization and meet minimum liquidity requirements. A month ago, the index included 25 companies from Australia, Canada and the U.S. It uses a modified market capitalization approach to weighting.

While TOKE is the cheapest competitor, the largest is the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ) with total assets under management of $933 million.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]