A targeted liquor ETF has enjoyed a spirited year as a growing global market and increased discretionary spending help fuel demand for whiskey, bourbon and other spirits.
The Spirited Funds/ETFMG Whiskey and Spirits ETF (NYSEARCA: WSKY), which is comprised of companies that are whiskey and/or spirit distilleries, breweries, and vintners and related luxury goods companies engaged in the sale of whiskey or the production and sale of mixers for use with premium spirits, has increased 30.9% year-to-date.
Sam Masucci, founder and chief executive officer of ETF Managers Group, which operates the ETF on behalf of Spirited Funds, the creator of the index, argued that the underlying companies in WSKY have strengthened partly due to an improving global economy, reports Gerrard Cowan for the Wall Street Journal.
“People have more discretionary money to spend in the distilled space,” Masucci told the WSJ.
The Spirited Funds/ETFMG Whiskey and Spirits ETF includes big names in the liquor business, including Diageo 17.6%, Pernod Ricard 8.2%, MGP Ingredients 5.8%, United Spirits 5.7% and Radico Khaitan 5.6% among its top holdings.