A strong management team and sound investment process underpin SmartETFs Smart Trans & Tch ETF's Morningstar Medalist Rating of Silver. The portfolio maintains a cost advantage over competitors, priced within the second-lowest fee quintile among peers.  

 The strategy’s management team earns an Above Average People Pillar rating. The People Pillar rating is indirectly assigned by a Morningstar analyst rather than algorithmically derived. Please see the notes following the pillar section for more details. The strategy's investment approach stands out and earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating.  High liquidity exposure is attributed to stocks with a high trading volume, lending managers more flexibility. And a high quality exposure is rooted in holding stocks with low financial leverage and strong returns on equity. The strategy belongs to a strong firm that earns an Above Average Parent Pillar rating. The firm, for example, has had a competitive lineup success ratio but discontinuity among portfolio managers is holding the firm back.

Analyst Rating

Eaton

NVIDIA

Alphabet

Quanta Services

Amphenol

NXP Semiconductors

SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Mortgage Backed Bond ETF

Analog Devices

TE Connectivity

Power Integrations

Morningstar's evaluation of this security's process aims to determine the likelihood that it will outperform its Morningstar Category index on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. SmartETFs Smart Trans & Tch ETF earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating. 

The leading factor in the rating is the parent firm's five-year risk-adjusted success ratio of 100%. The measure indicates the percentage of a firm's funds that survived and beat their respective category's median Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return for the period. The firm's five-year retention rate of 90% also contributes to the process. Lastly, the process is limited by being an actively managed strategy. Historical data, like Morningstar's Active/Passive Barometer, finds that actively managed funds have generally underperformed their passive counterparts, especially over longer time horizons.

 This strategy leans toward smaller, higher-growth companies compared with its average peer in the Global Large-Stock Blend Morningstar Category. Looking at additional factor exposure, the fund has held stocks with higher trading volumes compared to Morningstar Category Peers in the past few years. Such stocks may have less potential upside than illiquid holdings, but they are easier to trade during market downturns. In recent months, the strategy was more exposed to the Liquidity factor compared with its Morningstar Category peers as well. This strategy also has tilted in favor of high-quality stocks, those that have demonstrated low financial leverage and solid return on equity, during these years. Though it may trail peers during an economic boom, this orientation contributes to helping it weather periods of economic stress better. Compared with category peers, the strategy also had more exposure to the Quality factor in the most recent month. Additionally, the managers have consistently taken on more risk, demonstrated by higher volatility exposure than peers. This is a higher-risk, higher-reward approach. In this month, the strategy also had more exposure to the Volatility factor over its peers. More information on a fund and its respective category's factor exposure can be found in the Factor Profile module within the Portfolio section. 

 The portfolio is overweight in technology and consumer cyclical relative to the category average by 24.3 and 21.7 percentage points, respectively. The sectors with low exposure compared to category peers are financial services and healthcare, underweight the average by 14.0 and 11.6 percentage points of assets, respectively. The portfolio is composed of 37 holdings and is quite concentrated. More concretely, 40.2% of the strategy's assets are housed within the top 10 holdings, versus the category’s 25.2% average.

Above Average

Process

SmartETFs Smart Trans & Tch ETF earns an Above Average People Pillar rating. The team is backed by Jonathan Waghorn, the longest-tenured manager on the strategy, who provides 16 years of listed portfolio management experience. The average Morningstar Rating of the strategies they manage is 3.3 stars, demonstrating above-average risk-adjusted performance versus category peers. Jonathan Waghorn is supported by an experienced team, being able to draw on four additional listed managers, who average 13 years of listed portfolio management experience. As a team, they manage two investment vehicles together, with a Silver asset-weighted average Morningstar Medalist Rating, indicating the potential to deliver positive alpha in aggregate. None of the portfolio managers here invest in this fund. This hurts the rating because manager investment would align their interests with the strategy's investors.

 Note: The People Pillar rating is indirectly assigned by an analyst. The longest-tenured manager of the fund also manages a different product rated by an analyst. Their analyst-assigned People Pillar rating is combined here with the People scores (algorithmic or analyst-assigned) for the fund’s other managers on a tenure-weighted basis.

People

SmartETFs has a strong investment culture as a firm, resulting in an Above Average Parent Pillar rating. The longevity of the firm's product lineup has been impressive, demonstrated by a five-year risk-adjusted success ratio of 100%. This means 100% of products have both survived and beaten their respective category median on a risk-adjusted basis. A high success ratio indicates good performance and provides insight into a firm’s discipline around investment strategy and product development. A detractor from the firm's rating is its lower-than-average portfolio management retention over the past five years, as elevated turnover bears watching. The longest-tenured managers’ average asset-weighted tenure within the firm is ten years, bringing a wealth of knowledge through a complete market cycle and ultimately contributing positively to the rating.

Parent

SmartETFs Smart Transportation & Technology ETF

MOTO is an actively managed fund which has exposure to global companies involved in the advancement of transportation.

Archer Aviation

Joby Aviation

Cars could soon take to the skies, creating a potential $3.8 billion market by 2035 for some of the world's top flying car stocks. By 2040, we could be looking at a massive $1.5 trillion market, even $2.9 trillion, according to Morgan Stanley.

Sky-High Returns: 3 Flying Car Stocks to Elevate Your Portfolio

Lilium BV

“Mark my words: a combination airplane and motorcar is coming,” said Henry Ford. While Ford was ridiculed for the idea 83 years ago, no one's laughing anymore.

Best Flying Cars Stocks 2024: 3 Names to Add to Your Must-Buy List

Luminar Technologies

Transportation sure has come a long way since our grandfathers were on the roads. Now, instead of those traditional, gas-powered cars, we're nearing the potential for flying cars, autonomous vehicles and even further adoption of millions of battery-powered cars.

These Aren't Your Grandfather's Transportation Stocks. 3 Top Picks for the Future of Travel.

Like a scene out of The Jetsons, we may soon see cars taking to the skies and plenty of headline news on flying car stocks. And if you want, you can actually pre-order a flying car from Alef Aeronautics for about $299,999.

The 3 Best Flying Car Stocks to Buy Now: September 2023

First Trust NASDAQ Global Auto Index Fund

IQ Cleaner Transport ETF

Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF

Fidelity Electric Vehicles and Future Transportation ETF

SPDR S&P Kensho Smart Mobility ETF

iShares Self-Driving EV and Tech ETF

KraneShares Electric Vehicles & Future Mobility Index ETF

This note takes a brief look at Ford's data, examines EVs from a thematic ETF perspective, and looks deeper into profitability issues from an ex sell-side analyst perspective. U.S. battery electric vehicle sales grew 65.8% in 2022, according to Kelley Blue Book data.

EV ETFs: Ford, Affordability, And Looking Forward

Investors are constantly searching for the next big thing, but in the early stages, it can be hard to identify opportunities that are ripe for long-term growth.  While themes like the metaverse and blockchain are commonly viewed as the largest present growth opportunities, industry leaders are focused on digitization for the physical world — specifically, [.

Live at MICUS: “Robots Will Start Eating the World”

SmartETFs Advertising & Marketing Technology ETF

U.S. stocks climbed Thursday, with technology stocks leading the charge ahead of Apple and Amazon's earnings calls after hours this evening.  Meta Platforms, which was pummeled by its fourth quarter 2021 earnings report, released a solid first quarter earnings report, rallying shares higher.

MOTO & MRAD Increase on Tech Stock Rally

As clean energy names continue to climb amid global tensions and favorable legislation, investors can add exposure with the SmartETFs Smart Transportation & Technology ETF (MOTO). MOTO is an ETF to consider for investing in autonomous and electric vehicles and transportation as a service.

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First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF

iShares Transportation Average ETF

Direxion Daily Transportation Bull 3X Shares

SPDR S&P Transportation ETF

Investing in Transportation ETFs

The smart transportation market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.5% through 2028 to reach $33.62 billion, according to a market research report published by Meticulous Research. The growth is attributed to urbanization and increasing demand for efficient transportation, growing government focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and curbing alarming levels of traffic [.

Get Active Exposure to Smart Transportation & Technology With MOTO

The SmartETFs Smart Transportation and Technology ETF (MOTO) had a muted December but is up 38.10% since its November, 2019 inception and is well primed for continued growth. MOTO provides exposure to the smart transportation revolution — companies focused on EVs, AVs, and transportation as a service.

MOTO Could Soon Be on a Roll

SmartETFs Dividend Builder ETF

iShares S&P GSCI Commodity Indexed Trust

Global X Superdividend ETF

FlexShares iBoxx 3 Year Target Duration TIPS Index Fund

While inflation has been on investors' minds for some time now, the timeframe for the Fed to make those dreaded adjustments may come sooner than expected, according to Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan. Kaplan would like the Fed to state in September that it will start to adjust its monetary policy, citing that that [.

ETF Strategies To Explore As Fed Monitors Inflation And Tapering

Dividends can provide exceptional inflation protection. This might feel counterintuitive, as generating cash doesn't seem like a winning strategy when cash is devalued.

Hefty Dividends Can Hedge Against Inflation

The SmartETFS Smart Transportation & Technology ETF (MOTO) is a great income option for investors interested in a greener future. Aside from being a top five fund in its class over the past year, with a 55.51% bump in returns, MOTO also boasts an ESG score that puts it in just shy of the 90th [.

Drive Your Dividends Up by Investing in the Future

A chip shortage is threatening to slash revenues for automakers, but electric vehicles may see a much smaller speedbump with assets like the SmartETFs Smart Transportation & Technology ETF (MOTO). As of now, however, the automotive industry must overcome a near-term obstacle.

The MOTO ETF: Transportation Isn't Looking Back

Amplify Lithium & Battery Technology ETF

Ideanomics NextGen Vehicles & Technology ETF

Global electric car market share is now accelerating and should go exponential from 2022. Electric car sales forecasts. The real EV boom has only just begun. 6 electric vehicle related ETFs to consider - 4 relate to EVs plus AVs and 2 relate to EV plus EV supply chain (battery makers, miners).

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ALPS Clean Energy ETF

ALPS Disruptive Technologies ETF

First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund

First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund

SPDR S&P Kensho Intelligent Structures ETF

Americans are spending more on electricity than gas. These ETFs may benefit.

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Investors who are looking for up-and-coming opportunities should consider the developing smart transportation industry and an exchange traded fund strategy to tap into this quickly evolving segment. In the recent webcast, A Road Map to Investing in Smart Transportation, Jim Atkinson, CEO, SmartETFs, explained the transformation in the transportation industry as new technologies are incorporated [.

An ETF Strategy Steered Toward Innovation in Transportation

With the rise of next-generation, smart transportation in the works, innovations like electric vehicles and autonomous cars are being integrated into the automobile industry.

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There are several exchange traded funds focusing on futuristic approaches to transportation, such as electric and autonomous vehicles.

An Active Approach To Autonomous Vehicle Investing

SmartETFs Funds launched a new, actively managed transportation and technology ETF on Friday that invests in companies believed to benefit from the current revolution in transportation.

News for SmartETFs Smart Transportation & Technology ETF ETF (MOTO)