Funds and ETFs

New ETF for hot 'FANG' tech stocks begins trading just as bubble talk heats up

Key Points
  • AdvisorShares debuted its FANG-based ETF on Wednesday.
  • The fund begins with 28 companies at a price of $20 per share.
  • CEO Noah Hamman says he hopes this is not the top for FANG.
FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google) apps on a smartphone.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC

The FANG group of tech stocks is crushing expectations this year, and a new tech-based exchange traded fund is looking to capitalize on the momentum.

AdvisorShares on Wednesday debuted its New Tech and Media ETF under the ticker FNG. The fund will initially track 28 "disruptive innovators," the company said.

The acronym FANG was created by CNBC's Jim Cramer and refers to four high-growth technology stocks: Facebook, Amazon.com, Netflix and Google's parent, Alphabet.

While the four stocks have soared, Wall Street has been jittery about them, with analysts raising concerns about the valuations of large-cap technology bellwethers. Talk about a FANG bubble is growing louder, with all four stocks up 20 percent or more this year.

The fund holds 24 other "similar-type companies," AdvisorShares said in a statement, such as Nvidia, Microsoft, and Broadcom. The ETF opened trading at around $20 per share, seeded with $2.5 million.

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"Typically these high-performing technology and media leaders drive commerce and can outperform broad market benchmarks," AdvisorShares said.

When asked whether the ETF's launch is calling the top for FANG, AdvisorShares CEO Noah Hamman said, "I hope not."

"Because we launched it as an ETF, you get all the benefits of the ETF by its exposure, but because it's diversified in the ETF, it's a great way to hedge. Obviously, you'd need to short the ETF to do that, but it's an option," Hamman said.

FANG continues to shoot up this year, despite a modest growth environment. Growth stocks in a prominent area like tech flourish during a sluggish economic environment because they continue to attract investors.

FNG is actively managed by Sabretooth Advisors, and its portfolio can be updated as stocks shift in and out of the quantitative criteria the managers use to select the portfolio.

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