Related: Marijuana ETF Boosted by Altria, Cronos Cannabis Rumor
Second Marijuana ETF in the Works
MJ may not be the only ETF on the market that caters to the marijuana industry in the U.S. capital markets for much longer as Innovation Shares LLC recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the Innovation Shares Cannabis ETF. The filing couldn’t be more auspicious as recent regulatory changes have been paving the way for more marijuana usage whether it’s medical or recreational.
The 2018 Midterm Elections saw the Democrats obtain control of the House of Representatives, while the Republicans maintained their majority in the Senate–a bifurcated Congress in terms of political parties could spur more cannabis-related legislation. Analysts predict that a more Democratic House would offer the least path of resistance for major federal legislation, such as the SAFE Act and STATES Act.
Following the midterm elections, three of four states successfully passed cannabis-related legislation. Michigan became the 10th state to legalize recreational marijuana, joining Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Alaska.
According to the Innovation Shares filing, the ETF will be based on a proprietary index that tracks “the performance of a portfolio of exchange listed common stock of companies in primarily the United States and Canada that have a business interest in to the legal cannabis, hemp or CBD-based (i.e., products that contain cannabidiol) pharmaceutical and consumer wellness & product markets. A company has a business interest in the legal cannabis, hemp or CBD-based pharmaceutical and consumer wellness & product markets if a significant percentage of its revenues are
Furthermore, companies for inclusion in the index are “screened to not include stocks that have a market capitalization below $100 million. Constituents must also have traded at least 200,000 shares during the month of reconstitution. At the time of monthly reconstitution, the Index constituents are weighted according to their market capitalization with the individual weight of an Index constituent capped at seven percent (7.00%), with the excess weighting proportionately distributed between the remaining constituents.”
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