GCI Investors, a US-based independent asset manager, has launched the launch of its first US-listed ETF: The Genuine Investors ETF (NYSE: GCIG).
The firm writes that this active fund provides exposure to a long-term strategy of high conviction investments powered by in-house valuation and quality analysis.
GCI’s move into the ETF space allows access to the firm’s previously private strategy of ‘Genuine Investing’. The firm writes that this investment approach entails constructing a portfolio of high-quality businesses in certain industries that are structurally more attractive than others. ‘Genuine Investing’ is differentiated and unburdened by common industry constraints such as short duration time horizons, index tracking nor the institutional imperative to constantly sell newer products.
“At GCI, everything for us comes back to investing in businesses, not trading stocks” says Guy Davis, CFA, Managing Director, and Portfolio Manager. “We think in the short term, there are often significant discrepancies between real business values and their stock prices. Those divergences create significant opportunities for us. We approach investing like business owners, and we use the market for opportunity, rather than relying on it for information about actual business value.”
The firm writes that engineered to serve as a core holding within the equity portion of an investment portfolio, this active fund is designed as an all-weather strategy that isn’t guided by major benchmarks or market fads. The fund is entirely agnostic of traditional classifications and labels such as value and growth or specific themes, the firm says, instead, through its ‘Genuine Investing’ approach, GCIG is purely focused on seeking to generate consistent long-term, risk-adjusted returns for shareholders.
Because equities are distinguished as the best performing asset class over time, GCIG is fully-invested and seeks to maximise and maintain exposure to great companies, throughout market cycles. GCIG also differentiates itself among active equity ETFs with its high active share.
The fund holds 23 portfolio companies. The fund’s gross expense ratio is 1.65 per cent. The net expense ratio, after fee waivers contractual through February 29, 2024 is 1.00 per cent.
