In 2023, Timothy Rotolo launched his business, Range Fund Holdings, the parent company for Range Indices and Range ETFs, followed by the launch of four ETFs in January this year.
The firm and the ETFs may be new, but Rotolo is not a newcomer to the industry. He founded North Shore Indices, which brought URNM, a uranium-mining ETF, to the market in December 2019. The fund reached over USD1 billion before it was bought by Canadian firm, Sprott Asset Management in 2021.
Reflecting on the journey from there to here, Rotolo explains: “We stepped away and looked at the landscape, and then concluded that there was still a lot to do. So, we decided to look at other ways to be involved in ETFs, both as investors and by launching our own products”.
Energy is the theme of the four ETFs, which include the Range Global LNG Ecosystem Index ETF (LNGZ); the Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF (NUKZ); the Range Global Coal Index ETF (COAL); and the Range Global Offshore Oil Services Index ETF (OFOS).
This theme reflects Rotolo’s view that energy will be the driving force of global markets for the next 10 years. Further, he emphasises that “energy is the driving force of all economic growth”.
At the launch of the ETFs, Rotolo said “We view the energy transition as progressing into a new phase. Investors are increasingly recognising the need for base-load power solutions in support of renewables.
“Governments, grappling with bureaucratic entanglements, are encountering difficulties in making timely decisions to determine how their near-term energy policies, which rely on fossil fuels, relate to pressures around climate change.”
“This situation has created an opportunity for forward-thinking investors”.
Biotech is a focus too. Rotolo acquired two ETFs last October, which he merged to form CNCR (Range Cancer Therapeutics). This ETF provides exposure to the cancer-drug development and distribution ecosystem. In March this year, it was named ‘ETF of the month’ by Bloomberg, which noted its delivery of “double-digit 2024 returns”.
Summing up the plan for Range Fund Holdings, Rotolo, who also founded and is chief executive of Lloyd Harbor Capital Management and co-founder of Sachem Cove Partners says: “We want to be thesis-driven; to find an area of the market that is underappreciated, where we think we have an edge; to build our own index; and to then launch a product around it. For us, it’s about providing niche access to a theme that we think has a lot of upside. The more contrarian, the better, for us.”
Following the acquisition of CNCR and the introduction of the suite of four energy-themed ETFs, there are as yet no concrete plans for any more this year, but this could change: “We have a lot of ideas,” confirms Rotolo.
Explaining what form these ideas may potentially take in the future, he says:
“We’re looking at some M&A, to try to buy some other ETF issuers, and also at some other strategic initiatives to grow our footprint.”
