When Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas posted about Trump Media & Technology Group’s (DJT) entrance into the ETF space, he captured the unprecedented nature of the move: “First-ever POTUS ETF issuer. What a country.”
While TMTG’s trademark filings for six new investment products signal an ambitious push into financial services, experts say the company’s marketing-first approach could reshape how politically focused products are brought to market, even as questions remain about their potential success.
TMTG’s planned Truth.Fi brand will include both exchange-traded funds and separately managed accounts focused on themes like “Made in America” and energy independence, according to the company’s announcement Thursday.
“I think it’s a great brand,” Bill Flaig, co-founder and CEO of American Conservative Values ETF (ACVF), told etf.com. “These guys will certainly out-raise the other players in the space, AUM-wise, but I don’t see that they necessarily overlap everybody else in the space.”
TMTG CEO Devin Nunes framed the initiative as a response to market demand, saying the products will provide “a competitive alternative to the woke funds and debanking problems that you find throughout the market.”
“There’s been neglect to building products for conservatives who want to invest in their values,” Flaig said. “When you look at ESG, that’s turned into a trillion-dollar business … I think there’s definitely demand for these types of products.”
However, Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research at Morningstar, highlights that thematic ETFs face historical headwinds.
“Thematic ETFs were very popular in 2020 and 2021 and then performed very poorly in 2022,” he told etf.com. “That put thematics under the gun a little bit, and they’ve struggled to gain as much market share since.”
While the ETF industry typically follows established launch patterns, TMTG’s approach breaks with tradition. “What strikes me as odd is that they’re putting out this press release before actually filing for these ETFs, which is unusual,” Armour said.
Yet this unorthodox strategy may align with evolving industry dynamics. “Increasingly, narratives are being used to entice investors, and thematic ETFs obviously fit the bill for that trend,” Armour added. “And so I think we’ve seen a lot more product development around thematic ETFs and perhaps investor interest at this point.”
