US Vegan Climate ETF’s management team is rated Average, but a solid investment process still helps this strategy retain its Morningstar Medalist Rating of Bronze. The portfolio maintains a sizable cost advantage over competitors, priced within the least expensive fee quintile among peers.  

 The strategy's investment process inspires confidence and earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained an underweight position in quality exposure and an overweight in yield exposure compared with category peers. Low quality exposure is attributed to stocks with higher financial leverage and lower profitability. And a high yield exposure is rooted in holding high dividend-paying or buyback stocks. The strategy’s management team earns an Average People Pillar rating. The People Pillar rating is indirectly assigned by an analyst rather than algorithmically derived. Please see the notes following pillar section for more details. The strategy's parent organization doesn't stand out, earning the firm an Average Parent Pillar rating. It has displayed a handful of investor-friendly attributes including a favorable lineup success ratio and continuity among portfolio managers.

Analyst Rating

NVIDIA

Broadcom

Visa

Mastercard

UnitedHealth Group

Apple

salesforce.com

Advanced Micro Devices

Tesla

Accenture Plc

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. US Vegan Climate ETF earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating. The most substantial contributor to the rating is that this fund tracks an index. Historical data, such as Morningstar's Active/Passive Barometer, finds that passively managed funds have generally outperformed their active counterparts, especially over longer time horizons. The firm's five-year retention rate of 100% also contributes to the process. Lastly, the process is limited by the number of months that the management team has been running this vehicle together.

The investment strategy as stated in the fund's prospectus is:  The investment seeks to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Beyond Investing U.S. Vegan Climate Index.  The index's construction begins with the constituents of the Solactive U.S. Large Cap Index, consisting of approximately 500 of the largest U.S.-listed companies. The fund generally will invest in all of the component securities of the index in approximately the same proportion as in the index. Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the fund’s net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, and will be invested in securities that are traded principally in the U.S. 

 The portfolio is overweight in technology and financial services relative to the category average by 9.8 and 8.6 percentage points, respectively. The sectors with low exposure compared to category peers are consumer cyclical and healthcare, underweight the average by 8.5 and 6.1 percentage points of assets, respectively. The strategy owns 261 securities and is less top-heavy than peers. Specifically, 38.6% of the fund’s assets are concentrated within the top 10 fund holdings, compared to the category’s 54.8% average. And finally, in terms of portfolio turnover, on a year-over-year basis, 20% of the fund's holdings have changed, whether through increasing, decreasing, or changing a position.

Above Average

Process

Beyond’s team is valuable but does not stand out as one of the industry's best, warranting an Average People Pillar rating. There are three managers listed on the fund: Anand Desai, Ernesto Tong, Dustin Lewellyn. Experience on the team is abundant, with 11 years of average portfolio management experience. Together, they manage a total of 28 strategies, with a Bronze asset-weighted average Morningstar Medalist Rating, indicating the potential to deliver positive alpha relative to the category median in aggregate.  

 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.

Average

People

Beyond is an industry-standard asset manager, resulting in an Average Parent Pillar rating.  Beyond has brought continuity to its product shelf, with low portfolio management turnover compared with peer firms since the firm's inception. A notable weakness of Beyond is the inexperience of its longest-tenured managers compared with other asset managers. Managing capital through a full market cycle is a challenging prospect for seasoned managers, but with only four years of average tenure across their management team, there is cause for concern.

Parent

US Vegan Climate ETF

VEGN seeks to track a principles-based index of U.S. equities weighted by market-cap.

Ingredion

Oatly

With the growing demand for healthier food, pay close attention to undervalued plant-based food stocks. According to EWG.com, plant-based food sales “increased 44 percent, from $5 billion in 2019 to more than $8 billion in 2022.

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More than ever, investors recognize the risks and opportunities associated with the low carbon transition and are incorporating a wider set of considerations into their decision making.

Targeted Sustainability

The US Vegan Climate ETF (VEGN) is climbing amid news that privately held company Impossible Foods announced Monday that its meatless sausage will now be for sale to restaurants nationwide.

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It’s only been listed on NYSE since Tuesday, but there’s been lots of buzz on Beyond Investing’s first ETF: the US Vegan Climate ETF (VEGN).

News for US Vegan Climate ETF ETF (VEGN)