The Direxion All Cap Insider Sentiment Shares (NYSEArca: KNOW) has reaffirmed to investors that investing alongside corporate insiders can be profitable and now the exchange traded fund is being lauded for its impressive track record.
KNOW, which debuted in December 2011, earned the prestigious five-star rating from Morningstar.KNOW tracks the Sabrient Multi-Cap Insider/Analyst Quant-weighted Index, which provides investors access to stocks that corporate officers, directors and shareholders who own more than 5% of each S&P 1500 stock are accumulating. Although KNOW is a passive fund, there are some active elements to the ETF’s methodology. [Knowledge is Power for This ETF]
KNOW, which had almost $40.4 million in assets under management at the end of 2014, according to Morningstar, is a passive ETF. However, the fund’s stock selection process if far from “plain vanilla.”
Specifically, the quantitative selection strategy picks holdings based on the number of open market purchases by major corporate insiders and percentage gain in shares per each insider’s purchase; the number of positive revision to price appreciation estimates; and growth trends, valuations and earnings quality. [A Look at Insider Sentiment ETFs]
That strategy has proven rewarding. Over the past two years, KNOW has surged 46.8% compared to 37.6% for the S&P 500.
At the end of the third quarter, financial services firms accounted for 25.6% of KNOW’s weight while consumer cyclical and staples firms combined for nearly 35%, according to issuer data.
While the discretionary and staples sectors are currently among the most richly valued relative to the S&P 500, KNOW is not lacking for a value tilt with a combined 41% weight to the financial services, industrial and energy sectors.
KNOW’s top 10 holdings at the end of 2014 included Dow component Travelers (NYSE: TRV), three other insurance companies and two regional banks, indicating the ETF is well-positioned to benefit if interest rates this year.
Direxion is the second-largest issuer of inverse and leveraged ETFs, but KNOW is part of the firm’s expanding lineup of non-leveraged ETFs that also includes the Direxion Zacks MLP High Income Shares (NYSEArca: ZMLP) and the Direxion S&P 500 Volatility Response Shares (NYSEArca: VSPY).
Direxion All Cap Insider Sentiment Shares
