Millennials Are Missing Out On Their Own ETF

Millennials are a priority demographic for scores of industries, including Wall Street. There are even exchange-traded funds targeting those born between the years 1980 and 2000.

The Global X Millennials Thematic ETF MILN debuted just over two years. MILN “seeks to invest in companies that have a high likelihood of benefiting from the rising spending power and unique preferences of the U.S. Millennial generation (birth years ranging from 1980-2000),” according to Global X.

What Happened

MILN definitely fits the bill as a “niche ETF.” Those funds are often criticized by some market observers for having excessively narrow areas of focus. Those criticisms often overlook an important element - some niche ETFs deliver impressive returns.

Over the past two years, MILN is up just over 40 percent while the S&P 500 is higher by about 30 percent. The fund is sector agnostic.

“MILN enables investors to access high growth potential through companies at the leading edge of a long-term, structural demographic trend affecting multiple sectors of the economy,” said Global X.

Why It's Important

By some indications, millennials are missing out on the ETF dedicated to them. MILN is up 8.5 percent year-to-date compared to 1.2 percent for the S&P 500. The millennial ETF also an hit a record high on May 24, one of just eight ETFs to do so.

However, MILN has just under $20 million in assets under management. That doesn't mean the fund is in imminent danger of closing, but that's a low number for an ETF that's over two years old and one that indicates investors are not yet nibbling at a fund dedicated to millennials.

What's Next

Top 10 holdings in MILN include Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, Netflix, Inc. NFLX and Apple Inc. AAPL.

Of MILN's top nine industry exposures, eight dwell in the consumer discretionary and technology sectors, giving the Global X ETF the feel of a growth fund.

MILN charges 0.50 percent per year, or $50 on a $10,000 investment.

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