Gen Z ETF Dreamed Up by a High School Junior Is On the Way
Gen Z Gets Its Own ETF Focused on Companies Born Since Internet
(Bloomberg) -- Some of the world’s youngest investors may soon have access to an exchange-traded fund tailored to their “progressive values.”
The Gen Z ETF, a joint venture between adviser Empowered Funds LLC and sub-adviser Alkali Fintech LLC, will track companies that Alkali deems most relevant to investors born between 1997 and the early 2010s, according to a Wednesday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Brandon Koepke and Leonard Feder are the fund’s portfolio managers. Julian Feder, who began “trading equities at the age of thirteen and conceived the idea for the Fund his junior year of High School,” is Leonard Feder’s research associate, the filing said.
The ETF will consider investing initially in a universe of U.S.-listed equities that began trading publicly after January 1, 1997 and have more than $5 million in average daily turnover. From there, Akali will “subjectively” screen companies based on their utility by Gen Z, innovation and research efforts, disruption into new or under-served markets and whether the company is “morally aligned” with Gen Z values, including environmental, diversity and social welfare concerns. The holdings will likely end up being fairly technology-focused, according to the filing.
“Further, since Gen Z is essentially a digital generation, who does not know a world before the Internet, the Sub-Adviser favors companies that are highly innovative and disruptive,” the filing said. “Examples of these companies may include information technology and software services firms.”
The fund, which doesn’t yet have a ticker, will charge a management fee of 0.6% and reallocate at least monthly.
There are a handful of other ETFs launched to target specific age cohorts. The Global X Millennial Consumer ETF (MILN) and the Principal Millennials Index ETF (ticker GENY) has accumulated roughly $318 million between them since both funds launched in 2016.
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