Long Jim Cramer ETF Closes After $1.3M in Inflows
The fund was launched by Tuttle Capital Management in March.
An ETF that tracks CNBC television host Jim Cramer’s stock picks is shuttering after bringing in $1.3 million in assets since its launch in March.
The Long Cramer Tracker ETF (LJIM), which has gained about 3.7% over its lifetime, will halt trading Sept. 11 and liquidate Sept. 21, according to a press release. Launched by Tuttle Capital Management, the fund buys stocks that the television personality and former hedge fund manager recommends on his Mad Money show.
CEO Matthew Tuttle launched the ETF along with the Inverse Cramer Tracker ETF (SJIM), which shorts Cramer’s picks and is going to remain open.
Tuttle said in an interview that he started both funds in March to prove a point about a perceived lack of accountability that Cramer and other stock picking pundits take for poor bets. Tuttle is personally invested in SJIM, which bets against Cramer, and he primarily created LJIM to “engage in a dialogue,” he said.
“To me, the intermediate and long-term play is to short Jim Cramer’s picks,” Tuttle said.
After Cramer and CNBC largely ignored the funds once they launched, he decided to shutter LJIM: “We decided it just doesn’t make sense to keep the long side open. I was trying to be nice. If they’re not interested in a dialogue, I’m not going to keep it open.”
Jim Cramer’s ‘Lucky’ Bets
While LJIM has outperformed SJIM this summer, Tuttle chalked it up to Cramer’s “lucky” bets on Nvidia and other high-flying tech stocks. While LJIM is up 3.6% over the past three months, SJIM is down 1.5% over the same period.
Neither fund has picked up significant inflows; LJIM has seen $1.3 million in inflows while SJIM gained $3.5 million.
Tuttle is also behind the AXS Short Innovation Daily ETF (SARK), which shorts Cathie Wood’s fund. He said he’s open to launching short bet funds against other popular pundits in the future.
“If there’s some hypocrisy for me to call out, and I can create investment products around it that I personally would like to trade, then I’ll do it,” Tuttle noted.
Contact Lucy Brewster at lucy.brewster at etf.com