AdvisorShares, an exchange traded fund sponsor known for its actively managed investment strategies, is launching a bearish ETF that will bet against international stocks. The fund will be subadvised by a firm that incorporates behavioral research, a growing field of investing.
According to a press release, the AdvisorShares Athena International Bear ETF (NYSEArca: HDGI) will begin trading Friday, July 19. The fund tries to generate capital appreciation through short sales of international equities and will be managed by AthenaInvest Advisors, who specialize in a behavioral finance approach to identifying securities to short. HDGI has a 2.0% expense ratio.
It will be AdvisorShares’ 18th active ETF.
C. Thomas Howard, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer and Director of Research at AthenaInvest Advisors, will manage the portfolio.
AdvisorShares also offers a bearish ETF for U.S. stocks — the AdvisorShares Ranger Equity Bear ETF (NYSEArca: HDGE), which is subadvised by Ranger Alternative Management and selects short positions based on fundamentals, such as low earnings or aggressive accounting. [ETF Focus: AdvisorShares Ranger Equity Bear]
The new AdvisorShares Athena International Bear ETF, meanwhile, will screen stocks based on manager behavior, strategy consistency, and conviction, while identifying stocks that are held in the top and bottom relative weight positions within the international stock universe – the stocks with the lowest conviction holdings are shorted.
“These unique behavioral indicators can be predictive of performance and have a persistent spread between the highest and lowest rated investments,” according to AdvisorShares.