SPEAR Invest, a female-led asset manager focused on industrials and industrial technology, has launched its first ETF. The SPEAR Alpha ETF (NASDAQ: SPRX), an actively-managed fund leveraging thorough proprietary research, offers targeted exposure to industrial technology investments.
SPEAR’s value proposition is derived from hands-on research from primary sources—utilising their extensive network of industry participants to speak directly with corporate management to obtain primary information on their business model and financial track sheets. The research process may also include attending court hearings, engaging remediation experts and uncovering major accounting issues to tap opportunities.
With a deep understanding of entire supply chains, SPEAR’s underlying strategy is backed by advanced research that is focused on finding and identifying broad-sector and sub-sector potential, but also vetting those stocks that pose a risk to underperform. For example, where other asset managers invest in direct beneficiaries of a trend which often becomes crowded (such as Tesla), SPEAR looks to invest in the greater electric vehicle supply chain that incorporates copper and lithium mines, companies that provide electrical components, charging stations, and simulation & design software.
“As an actively-managed fund, it is important to highlight that although SPRX invests in innovative industrial technologies, we believe the real value comes from finding under-the-radar opportunities across the supply chain,” says firm founder and fund manager Ivana Delevska. “The fund is based on a strategy built on primary research in a sector that could have significant and underappreciated tailwinds over the next five years.” More specifically, SPRX looks to provide comprehensive and cost-efficient exposure to established long-term secular themes (Environmental Focus, Manufacturing Digitalization, and Robotics) as well as emerging ones (Photonics, Space Exploration, and AI). “Additionally, reshoring is impacting this sector as domestic manufacturing is having a revival aided by government support and new technologies,” affirms Delevska.
Designed to be a core holding, The SPRX strategy has a starting universe of approximately 120 equities which are then divided into about 12 buckets (so each sub-sector has approximately 10 companies) and out of these, the fund manager picks two to three that meet the top of their criteria, resulting in a list of approximately 25 investment opportunities. In its selection criteria, in addition to end-market dynamics and financial performance factors, SPEAR considers liquidity, management team, and ESG factors. The total expense ratio of SPRX is 0.75 per cent.
