Hedge Fund ETFs For A Lower Fee Than Actual Hedge Funds

Among the certainties on Wall Street are the following: Hedge funds usually carry high fees while exchange-traded funds usually carry low fees.

Some ETFs grant investors exposure to hedge fund strategies or stocks held by hedge funds without the punitive often found in the hedge fund space. For example, the Goldman Sachs Hedge Industry VIP ETF GVIP, which debuted in November, gives investors hedge fund-esque access at a somewhat reasonable fee.

Finding A VIP In GVIP

“GVIP's 10.7 percent gain year to date through May 4 was ahead of the S&P 500's 7.4 percent,” said CFRA Research Director of ETF & Mutual Fund Research Todd Rosenbluth in a note out Monday. “While constructed from the bottom up, information technology (32 percent of assets) and consumer discretionary (27 percent) stocks are most prominently held. Consumer staples (4 percent) and industrials (4 percent) stocks were underweighted relative to the S&P 500. There are currently 19 stocks that were now in the ETF at the end of 2016.”

GVIP follows the Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund VIP Index and holds the 50 stocks that appear most frequently in 13F filing as top hedge fund holdings. GVIP charges 0.45 percent year, or $45 on a $10,000 investment. That is nearly double the average fee for U.S.-listed ETFs, but still cheap compared to a direct hedge fund investment.

Going With The GURU

The Global X Guru Index ETF GURU is one of the seasoned names among hedge fund ETFs, having debuted nearly five years ago. The ETF follows the Solactive Guru Index. GURU holds stocks that are deemed to be “high conviction” hedge fund ideas.

GURU, “with approximately $60 million in assets, but down from a year earlier is a more established way individuals can invest in stocks held by hedge funds. GURU launched in 2012 and is comprised of the top US listed equity positions reported on Form 13F by a select group of hedge funds that the index provider Solactive deems as having moderate turnover rates and other characteristics,” said Rosenbluth.

CFRA has Market-Weight ratings on GURU and GVIP. GURU charges 0.75 percent per year, or $75 on a $10,000 stake.