By Rachel Evans
(Bloomberg) -- A new exchange-traded fund focused on marijuana stocks plans to undercut competitors when it debuts just days before an unofficial pot holiday.
With a ticker of YOLO -- “You Only Live Once” -- the AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF will charge 74 basis points, or $7.40 for every $1,000 invested, according to regulatory documents. That’s 1 basis point less than the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF, known as MJ.
“Launching 1 basis point cheaper than MJ is a bit absurd, but symbolic of the era we are in right now where expense ratio is one of the first things an adviser looks at,” said Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “This ETF has at least a fighting chance to find an audience.”
The fund is poised to make history as the first U.S. ETF to include cannabis in its name, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Issuers have struggled to start funds that directly reference marijuana, in part due to concern among custodians and other service providers over the legality of the business. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is also increasingly asking thematic funds to justify their names.
Bank of New York Mellon will act as YOLO’s custodian, administrator and transfer agent, according to regulatory filings.
The fund plans to list in New York on Thursday, just two days shy of April 20 -- aka 4/20, pot-user slang for smoking cannabis.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rachel Evans in New York at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at [email protected] Brendan Walsh, Alec D.B.
