ETF Odds & Ends: New Funds Offer SPAC Angles
Plus, WisdomTree, ProShares ETFs undergo changes.
There were some interesting launches last week that deserve mention. The selection included two funds from a new firm that cover the “De-SPAC” space, as well as two pair of model-based actively managed ETFs.
Tuttle
Tuttle Capital Management rolled out The De-SPAC ETF (DSPC) and The Short De-SPAC ETF (SOGU) last Wednesday. The funds offer another angle on the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) concept, targeting companies that have gone public as a result of their merger with a SPAC rather than holding a mix of premerger SPACs and postmerger companies, as most existing SPAC funds usually do.
DSPC offers long exposure to its underlying index, which covers the 25 largest companies to have merged with a SPAC in the past year. The index is rebalanced monthly, so its list of holdings updates fairly frequently. Meanwhile, SOGU is actively managed and seeks to provide the inverse (-1X) of the performance of The De-SPAC Index on a daily reset using swaps.
DSPC comes with an expense ratio of 0.75%, while SOGU charges 0.95%. Both funds list on the NYSE Arca.
WisdomTree
On Thursday, WisdomTree added two new actively managed ETFs to its lineup with the launch of the WisdomTree Emerging Markets Efficient Core Fund (NTSE) and the WisdomTree International Efficient Core Fund (NTSI). The two funds will combine equity exposure with futures contracts on Treasury securities, with the equity portion taking up about 90% of the portfolio, with the remainder of the portfolio serving as collateral for futures on Treasury assets worth up to 60% of the fund’s net assets, the prospectuses say.
The Treasury futures represent a laddered portfolio of two-, five-, 10- and 30-year U.S. Treasury securities that is designed to alleviate interest rate risk, according to a WisdomTree press release.
In the case of NTSE, the equity portion will be a cap-weighted portfolio of emerging market equities, while the equity portion for NTSI will consist of a cap-weighted selection of developed market, non-U.S. equities.
The two funds join what is now known as the WisdomTree U.S. Efficient Core Fund (NTSX), a fund that has a similar methodology to the other two but uses U.S. stocks in its equity portion. NTSX was previously known as the WisdomTree 90/60 U.S. Balanced Fund but changed its name on Thursday to coincide with the launch of its sister funds.
NTSE comes with an expense ratio of 0.32%, and NTSI charges 0.26%. Both funds list on the NYSE Arca.
Principal
Principal also launched a complementary pair of ETFs last Thursday. The Principal U.S. Large-Cap Adaptive Multi-Factor ETF (PLRG) and the Principal U.S. Small-Cap Adaptive Multi-Factor ETF (PLTL) apply similar quantitative strategies to two different size segments.
The funds both target the value, quality, momentum and low volatility factors, adjusting exposures to the different factors based on the current market regime and its associated level of risk. The risk level of the market is evaluated on a weekly basis.
PLRG comes with an expense ratio of 0.15%, while PLTL charges 0.19%. Both list on Cboe Global Markets.
Other ETF Changes
A handful of ETFs offered by First Trust and ProShares are also undergoing some material changes.
For example, last Monday, the ProShares K-1 Free Crude Oil Strategy ETF (OILK) transitioned from being an actively managed fund to tracking an index, the Bloomberg Commodity Balanced WTI Crude Oil Index.
And on or around July 27, two First Trust ETFs will change their names and underlying indexes, with one changing its ticker as well. The First Trust NASDAQ Global Auto Index Fund (CARZ) will change its name to the First Trust S-Network Electric & Future Vehicle Ecosystem ETF and its underlying index from the NASDAQ OMX Global Automobile Index to the S-Network Electric & Future Vehicle Ecosystem Index.
The First Trust Nasdaq Retail ETF (FTXD) will change its name to the First Trust S-Network Global E-Commerce ETF, its ticker to ISHP, and its index from the Nasdaq US Smart Retail Index to the S-Network Global E-Commerce Index.
Splits
Finally, effective June 4, five ETNs are set to see forward splits. Those actions are as follows:
- iPath Shiller CAPE ETN (CAPE), 10 for 1
- iPath Series B Carbon ETN (GRN), 5 for 1
- iPath Series B Bloomberg Agriculture Subindex Total Return ETN (JJA), 3 for 1
- iPath Series B Bloomberg Copper Subindex Total Return ETN (JJC), 3 for 1
- iPath Series B Bloomberg Nickel Subindex Total Return ETN (JJN), 3 for 1
Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]