Another fund, the Validea Market Legends ETF (VALX), ignores 13F filings and relies on its own investment model that plays off the strategies of legendary Wall Street investors.
Jacobs says he believes the new Global X activist fund is the first ETF devoted to following activist investors. But it’s not the first ’40 Act fund focused on this space.
The 13D Activist Fund, which bills itself as the only mutual fund using shareholder activism as an investment strategy, has attracted $442 million in assets since it began trading in December 2011, according to fund research company Morningstar Inc.
The fund consists of three share classes, and each has produced annualized returns of nearly 24 percent (as of March 31). Expense ratios for the fund’s various share classes range from 1.50 percent to 2.50 percent.
Investors intrigued by activist-tracking funds now have two choices––the 13D Activist Fund with its impressive three-year-plus track record, and the newbie Global X Guru Activist Index ETF whose expense ratio of 0.75 percent is significantly cheaper than its mutual fund counterpart.