Simplify Initiates HARD Launch on Actively Managed Commodity ETF

Simplify Asset Management announced the launch of the Simplify Commodities Strategy No K-1 ETF (NYSE Arca: HARD), an actively managed ETF designed to serve as both a core commodity holding and an inflation hedging vehicle.

Simplify built HARD around two models of “price trend” and “fundamental reversion,” which balance one another while at the same time long/short forecasting models naturally optimize curve position for contango and/or backwardation. Commodity futures included in the strategy include crude oil, RBOB, heating oil, natural gas, copper, gold, silver, corn, wheat, soybeans, and soybean oil.

“The role that commodities can play in hedging portfolios against strong inflation has long been understood by investors, but just as well understood is the way in which long-only commodity strategies tend to underperform over long-time horizons,” said David Berns, Simplify’s co-founder and CIO. “With HARD, we’ve designed a means by which investors can access commodity exposure for both the short- and the long-term, with the potential to perform well during periods of inflation as well as in more typical market environments.”

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Berns added, “we see this fund meeting two important needs for investors and advisors: access to an enhanced core commodity exposure and a powerful inflation hedge. Those aspects, in combination with the fact that the fund will never deliver a K-1, have us very much looking forward to educating the marketplace about this highly differentiated approach.”

HARD joins the Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF (CTA) among the firm’s commodity-focused offerings. It has an expense ratio of 0.75%, and the team at Altis Partners will actively manage the fund.

For more news, information, and analysis, visit the Commodities Channel.