In an exchange-traded fund landscape defined by everything from sexy high-tech BOTZ, +2.67% to geeky high-finance SPYC, +0.85%, can a fund based on enduring principles like loyalty, bravery, and sacrifice ever hope to make inroads?
“We wanted to make sure we’re always enhancing our investment lineup for them,” said Mannik Dhillon, who runs the ETF business at Victory Capital Management. “That includes bringing out themes that resonate for them. This allows them to access companies that have demonstrated ongoing support for hiring and retention of veterans.”
Todd Rosenbluth, who heads up mutual fund and ETF research for CFRA, doesn’t find that surprising. “There’s probably less subjectivity in employers that prioritize military service,” he said in an interview. “Different asset managers or index providers may disagree on what is a value stock or have different criteria for dividend growth, but companies either do right by members of the military or do not.