Daily ETF Watch: New Fund Targets Millennials

Global X will launch a first-of-its-kind ETF.

Global X is set to launch a fund today that targets the consumption habits of the millennial generation. The Global X Millennials Thematic ETF (MILN) will list on the Nasdaq stock market and comes with an expense ratio of 0.68%.

The fund’s underlying index, provided by INDXX, selects its stocks based on consumer spending data, consumer behavior, technology and demographics relating to the generation born between 1980 and 2000. The companies covered in MILN must be U.S.-listed stocks with at least $500 million in market capitalization and an average daily turnover for the preceding six months of at least $2 million.

INDXX has identified eight millennial spending categories, but the prospectus notes that they could change over time. They include social and entertainment; clothing and apparel; travel and mobility; food, restaurants and consumer staples; financial services and investments; housing and home goods; education and employment; and health and fitness.

Using a wide range of publicly available information sources, the methodology focuses on companies with significant exposure to millennial spending habits, selecting five to 15 companies for each spending category based on a composite score. The resulting index is heavily concentrated in the consumer discretionary, consumer staples, technology, financial and real estate sectors, the prospectus said.

Because components can range from small to large capitalization, the index implements a modified-market-capitalization-weighting approach, with rebalances occurring annually.

MILN is the first of its kind, but there is at least one other ETF in registration that will seek to track companies that benefit from millennials, the Telsey Millennial Consumer ETF (TLSY).

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected].