Home to over $1.27 billion in assets under management, the SPDR DoubleLine Total Return Tactical ETF (NYSEArca: TOTL) is easily the most successful new exchange traded fund to debut this year.
TOTL, managed by bond guru Jeff Gundlach, can also lay claim to be one of the most successful actively managed ETFs and one of the fastest-growing funds in that segment of the ETF market. With superlatives like that behind TOTL, there is no shame any new ETF in being labeled “second-best.”
That label applies to the iShares Exponential Technologies ETF (NYSEArca: XT). A partnership between BlackRock’s (NYSE: BLK) iShares unit, the world’s largest issuer of exchange traded funds, and Ric Edelman’s Edelman Financial Services, one of the largest independent registered investment advisory firms, fostered XT’s launch.
Like TOTL, XT has been an undisputed success, having attracted nearly $650 million in assets since coming to market in March. [A new Exponential Tech ETF]
“The equal-weighted ETF invests across sectors in developed and emerging markets. It offers exposure to companies driving innovation by developing and/or leveraging promising technologies,” reports Investor’s Business Daily.
“XT is designed to provide global exposure to companies identified as leaders across key areas of technological transformation from big data and analytics to nanotechnology and bioinformatics. These companies, which also cross industry sectors such as manufacturing, financial services and healthcare, have the potential to profoundly transform society and may offer substantial investment growth opportunities,” according to a statement issued by BlackRock.
Edelman has been ranked the top independent financial advisor by Barron’s three times. His firm has risen to prominence, in part, because it embraces investors with smaller accounts, a demographic often underserved by traditional RIAs looking only for investors with $500,000, $1 million or larger accounts. The minimum to open an account with Edelman is $5,000. The firm has more than 40 offices in 15 states.
XT holds 195 stocks, two-thirds of which are U.S. companies. U.K. and French stocks combine for 9.5% of the ETF’s weight. No individual holding commands more than 1.04% of XT’s weight. That is the weight assigned to Netflix (NasdaqGS: NFLX), the ETF’s largest holding. XT’s annual fee is 0.47%, or $47 per $10,000 invested.
iShares Exponential Technologies ETF
