A new Exchange Traded Fund is taking the next step with gender diversity investing. The Hypatia Women CEO ETF (WCEO) is the first ETF to focus strictly on women-run companies.
The only two requirements for a company be owned in WCEO are that it has a market cap of at least $500 million and a woman runs the company, either from the CEO or Chairperson position.
WCEO will have at least 80% of its assets in US companies that female Chief Executive Officers lead. Furthermore, the fund may invest up to 20% of holdings in US companies with an Executive Chairperson or a Chairperson who is female.
WCEO is a one-of-a-kind ETF, but it does have some competition if an investor is looking for a woman-focused ETF.
The Impact Shares YWCA Women’s Empowerment ETF (WOMN) tracks an index of large and mid-cap US equities selected and weighted to maximize exposure to firms that score highly on gender diversity.
WCEO has an expense ratio of 0.85% and just began trading in January. WOMN has an expense ratio of 0.75%, has been trading for about four years, and has over 200 holdings. Year-to-date, the fund is up 4.7%, down 12.41% over the last year, but up 11.83% annualized over the previous three years.
Another ETF focusing on women in the workforce is the SPDR MSCI USA Gender Diversity ETF (SHE). SHE tracks a market cap-weighted index of large and mid-size US companies that promote gender diversity through a relatively high proportion of women throughout all levels of their organization.
SHE has been trading for about seven years and has an expense ratio of 0.20%, the best out of this group. Year-to-date SHE is up 3.88%, down 14.48%, but up 2.53% annualized over the last three years and 4.82% annualized over the previous five years.
While each of these three ETFs promotes the idea of gender diversity in the workplace, WCEO has taken it to the next level, and I believe the requirement for a company to be run by a woman will set this ETF apart from the rest over the next few years. Continue reading "Invest In Women With This New ETF"
