The industry closed out November maintaining its pace of growth, rolling out another dozen new ETFs during the week. The launches included products from Goldman Sachs, Innovator, SP Funds, Counterpoint, YieldMax, Aztlan, and ETF newcomer Macquarie.
However, perhaps the most unusual new ETF to debut was the WHITEWOLF Publicly Listed Private Equity ETF (LBO). The fund joins just two other broad private equity ETFs, the Invesco Global Listed Private Equity ETF (PSP) and the ProShares Global Listed Private Equity ETF (PEX). However, unlike its predecessors, LBO is actively managed by a firm that specializes in private equity. The fund may include leverage finance providers, buyout firms, sponsors, and asset managers in its portfolio, according to its prospectus.
LBO has an extremely high expense ratio of 6.82%, considering that almost all ETFs cost less than 100 basis points. It lists on Cboe Global markets.
Hilton Capital Management also launched an ETF, the Hilton Small-MidCap Opportunity ETF (SMCO), tackling the SMID section of the U.S. equity market. The fund is actively managed and relies on an in-house methodology to target what it considers mispriced securities with market capitalizations between $750 million and $30 billion, according to the fund document. It has an expense ratio of 0.55% and lists on the Nasdaq stock market.
Closures
There was also significant closure activity during the week, with eight ETFs either ceasing to trade or announcing plans to do so. These included the iShares iBonds Dec 2023 Term Muni Bond ETF (IBML), a closure that was essentially scheduled from the fund’s launch, and the B.A.D. ETF (BAD) as well as three closures from Innovator. Those will occur as of January 2, 2024, and are as follows:
- Innovator Double Stacker 9 Buffer ETF – January (DBJA)
- Innovator Double Stacker ETF – January (DSJA)
- Innovator Triple Stacker ETF – January (TSJA)
Kelly ETFs also shuttered its final three ETFs, including the following:
- Kelly Hotel & Lodging Sector ETF (HOTL)
- Kelly Residential & Apartment Real Estate ETF (RESI)
- Kelly Residential & Apartment Real Estate ETF (XDNA)
Other Changes
Another two ETFs underwent material changes during the week. The Global X MSCI Vietnam ETF (VNAM) changed its index from the MSCI Vietnam IMI Select 25/50 Index to the MSCI Vietnam Select 25/50 Index. And the Virtus Newfleet High Yield Bond ETF (BLHY) changed its name to the Virtus Newfleet Short Duration High Yield Bond ETF and its ticker to VSHY.
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