The Direxion iBillionaire Index ETF (NYSEArca: IBLN), the newly minted exchange traded fund that tracks 30 U.S. stocks in which a pool of up to 10 billionaires have invested the most assets, is adding some big names while waving good-bye to some others.
IBLN tracks iBillionaire Inc.’s iBillionaire Index (BILLIONR). That index “is designed to track and measure the performance those who have, over time, reaped the biggest rewards on Wall Street: financial billionaires. The index monitors the portfolios of leading billionaire investors, such as Warren Buffett, Carl Icahn, Daniel Loeb, David Tepper and David Einhorn,” according to iBillionaire.
The index, which debuted in November 2013, is up nearly 16.5% since inception, according to provider data. Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook (NasdaqGS: FB), a holding of hedge fund managers including Julian Robertson, George Soros and David Tepper, among others, joins 13 other stocks making debuts in the iBillionarie Index. [New Billionaire ETF Coming Soon]
“The iBillionaire Index, introduced in November 2013, consists of the 30 leading U.S. stocks in which a pool of up to 10 billionaires has invested the most assets. All billionaires in the pool must meet several criteria, including a portfolio turnover rate of less than 50 percent and a demonstrated long-term investment strategy,” according to a statement released by Direxion.
Other well-known new additions to IBLN’s underlying index include AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG), General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Monsanto (NYSE: MON).
“Coming in is the long-time pick National-Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV), of which David Einhorn purchased an additional 460,000 shares in Q3. While the company hasn’t had a banner year on the stock market, it exceeded expectations in its latest earnings report, with its revenue climbing +12% year-over-year. Moreover, NOV is one of the highest-yielding stocks in the iBillionaire Index,” according to the index provider.
Amid speculation that oil services consolidation is on the rise following Halliburton’s (NYSE: HAL) $35 billion offer for Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI), National Oilwell Varco has also recently been mentioned as a potential takeover target. [More M&A for Oil Services ETFs]
Speaking of the energy sector, to which IBLN allocated nearly 15.3% of its weight at the end of the third quarter, several large energy companies have been removed from the index. Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC), Transocean (NYSE: RIG), which is held by Icahn, and Williams Cos. (NYSE: WMB) have been removed from IBLN’s index. Those departures could drop IBLN’s energy weight to about 10%.
Other big-name departures from the iBillionaire Index include AIG (NYSE: AIG), Microsoft (NasdaqGS: MSFT) and Netflix (NasdaqGS: NFLX).
Only NASDAQ- or NYSE-listed firms with market values of at least $1 billion are eligible for inclusion in the ETF. Each of IBLN’s 30 holdings receives a fixed equal weight of 3.33%, according to Direxion.
iBillionaire Index Weights
