Strive Asset Management, the fund manager launched by businessman-turned-aspiring-rapper Vivek “Rhymes With Cake” Ramaswamy, has launched another ETF. The Strive FAANG 2.0 ETF (NYSE Arca: FTWO) targets companies that are engaged in national security and natural resource security.
FTWO offers exposure to fuel, aerospace & defense, agriculture, nuclear, and gold & precious metals. Top holdings as of Aug. 31 were Deere & Co. (DE), General Electric Co. (GE), and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM). It carries an expense ratio of 0.49%.
See more: “‘Anti-ESG’ Manager Strive Launches Fixed Income ETFs”
Earlier this month, Strive Asset Management launched two fixed income ETFs. The Strive Enhanced Income Short Maturity ETF (BUXX) and the Strive Total Return Bond ETF (STXT) mark the firm’s first foray into the fixed income space.
Ramaswamy co-founded Strive in 2022 to combat “woke” capitalism but left the company to pursue a career in hip-hop. Strive’s debut fund, the Strive U.S. Energy ETF (DRLL), was designed to push back against the trend of ESG investing. It’s underperformed the S&P 500 ESG index by nearly 19 percentage points year-to-date.
The firm includes PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel among its early investors.
In October, Ramaswamy appeared on Bob Pisani’s ETF Edge along with VettaFi head of research Todd Rosenbluth to discuss ESG investing. Ramaswamy attempted to argue that ESG isn’t just about ESG funds but also the “green smuggling” of political issues into non-ESG funds. Rosenbluth pointed out that “there are no ESG-only firms. The fact that we have an anti-ESG firm is ironic because we don’t have any ESG firms.”
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