God Bless America ETF Debuts With Small Decline

YALL is the latest fund promoting conservative values.

The God Bless America exchange-traded fund debuted Tuesday with a small drop, the latest in a string of investments seeking to attract conservative investors. 

With the ticker YALL, the fund fell about 11 cents, or 0.5%, to close at $19.93 with just over 500,000 shares trading. The S&P 500 was down 0.7%.

Unveiled this summer by Toroso Investments and subadvised by Curran Financial products, YALL is seeking to appeal to the political right, saying in its prospectus it “eliminates companies that, in the Sub-Adviser’s assessment, have emphasized politically left and/or liberal political activism and social agendas at the expense of maximizing shareholder returns.”  

YALL is tapping into “anti-woke” sentiments that have sparked the creation of funds with tickers like MAGA (Point Bridge America First ETF) and DRLL (Strive U.S. Energy ETF). These investments arose in reaction to companies and funds implementing environmental, social and governance requirements, factors that some say get in the way of good investing choices.  

The fund will invest in 30-40 stocks at any time, focusing on those with low price-to-earnings ratios and a record of job growth. YALL’S advisors will be selective, and engage in “evaluating a company’s political activity,” which mirrors the behavior of firms that demand ESG compliance.  

Contact Ron Day at [email protected]