It seems that specific sector ETFs are gaining popularity as a way to cushion the fallout from banking turmoil.
According to VettaFi’s Todd Rosenbluth, the trend applies to ETFs that contain only a few large companies in certain industries.
“(They will) complement a broader S&P 500 strategy,” the company’s head of research told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” on Monday. “This year, we’re seeing active management, and particularly actively managed ETFs, relatively popular as a complement to an existing core strategy.”
Rosenbluth argues that the narrow focus of large-cap ETFs can magnify potential gains.
“(In) the same way that you could do individual shares of favorite names … now you get the benefits of five or six of these companies to augment that,” he added.
When asked if these sector ETFs were trying to reintroduce FAANG stocks – referring to the five popular tech companies Meta, formerly Facebook, (META); Amazon (AMZN); Apple (AAPL); Netflix (NFLX); And Alphabet (GOOG) — Rosenbluth explained that it’s difficult to build ETFs with exposure only to big-cap stocks because companies can be categorized into different industries.
“You can’t easily get that right now with an ETF (holding) of just those five or six stocks,” he said. “If you really just want to call those five or six companies, an ETF is coming soon.”
Still, John Davi of Astoria Advisors suggested in “ETF Edge” last week that the banking turmoil could expose problems lurking in ETFs tied to specific sectors.
“You have to consider your risk,” says Davi, who manages the AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF.
For others, the unrest in the banks creates opportunities.
‘Not just an isolated opportunity’
Roundhill Investments, an ETF issuer, plans to launch three big-cap sector ETFs: Big Tech (BIGT), Big Airlines (BIGA), and Big Defense (BIGD).
These “BIG ETFs” will join her Big Bank ETF (BIGB), which launched last Tuesday. The median market cap is $145.5 billion, according to the company’s website.
The Roundhill Big Bank ETF is down nearly 5% since launch based on Friday’s close.