Nearly 120 new exchange traded products have launched in the U.S. this year, while ahead of the pace seen at the same time last year. One of the latest entrants to the fray is the AdvisorShares Athena High Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: DIVI).
The actively managed AdvisorShares Athena High Dividend ETF debuted today and is managed by Denver-based AthenaInvest Advisors. Athena is an “industry leader in Behavioral Portfolio Management (BPM) with its patented behavioral research process and proprietary investment strategies. Dr. C. Thomas Howard, PhD, co-founder and chief investment officer of Athena, serves as the portfolio manager of DIVI,” according to statement issued by AdvisorShares.
The research behind DIVI “measures behavioral factors of active equity fund investment managers (strategy, consistency and conviction) and identifies stocks which are held in the top relative weight positions of their portfolios,” according to AdvisorShares. From there, Athena screens for high dividend fare and weighs DIVI’s constituents by dividends.
Home to 40 stocks, DIVI charges 0.99% per year. Weights for DIVIs’s holdings range from 1.6% for Altria (NYSE: MO) to 4.3% for business development company Prospect Capital (NasdaqGS: PSEC). In addition to Prospect Capital, DIVI owns other business development companies, real estate investment trusts and partnerships including Chimera Investment (NYSE: CIM), Ares Capital (NasdaqGS: ARCC) and Icahn Enterprises (NYSE: IEP). [BDC ETFs for Yield]
DIVI also features robust international exposure with holdings such as Telecom New Zealand (PK: NZTCY), Baytex Energy (NYSE: BTE) and Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC), Colombia’s state-run oil company, among others.
“The need for shareholder yield is well known, however, most equity dividend funds focus on dividends first and stock selection second. DIVI aims to provide high yield to investors while taking a patented behavioral approach to stock selection,” said Noah Hamman, chief executive officer of AdvisorShares, in the statement.
Dividend increases among U.S. companies rose $12.6 billion in the April through June time frame, but that lags the $17.6 billion growth rate seen in the first quarter, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post.