The rise in thematic ETFs in 2020 was remarkable, with assets increasing by 78% in Q4 alone to $104B in AUM. This meteoric growth has been powered by firms like Defiance ETFs, a relative newcomer to the ETF space that has already produced a $1B fund in FIVG. Founded in 2018 by a group of ETF professionals that came from more traditional issuers like Blackrock and Direxion, Defiance has focused exclusively on creating products that resonate with a younger, forward-looking generation of investors. Defiance's CIO Sylvia Jablonski joins Let's Talk ETFs to discuss where the firm sees itself among its more established ETF issuer peers - and how each of its five current funds can help investors capitalize on key trends taking place right now.
Show Notes
2:00 - Why start a new ETF issuer when there are so many out there already: Defiance's mission statement
7:00 - How does Defiance manage to stay ahead of the ETF thematic curve?
Drilling into Defiance's lineup:
12:30 - Defiance Next Gen Connectivity ETF (FIVG): How big of an opportunity is the move to 5G for investors?
16:15 - What sectors are offering this exposure?
19:00 - Weighting holdings within FIVG
20:30 - Defiance Next Gen SPAC Derived ETF (SPAK): To what do you attribute the current popularity of SPACs?
23:45 - What parts of the SPAC process does SPAK focus on?
30:00 - Defiance Quantum ETF (QTUM): What is quantum computing and how does this ETF offer exposure to this theme?
33:45 - How do you address the lack of companies in the portfolio that represent "pure plays" in the quantum computing space?
38:00 - Defiance NASDAQ Junior Biotechnology ETF (IBBJ): What makes a company a junior biotech company?
40;00 - What's the basic underlying strategy of IBBJ?
43:00 - How do you deal with companies that become successful and are no longer "junior"?
44:00 - Defiance's newest ETF: The Defiance Next Gen H2 ETF (HDRO)
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