Tuttle’s New ETF Filings Take ‘Right’ Turn

Tuttle Capital Management hopes to draw investors unhappy with ‘woke policies' to their Jim Cramer ETFs.

Tuttle Capital Management is at it again. 

The feisty ETF provider that poked fun at CNBC’s Jim Cramer with funds that separately go long and short the flamboyant host’s investment tips is now hoping to tap into investors’ political views. 

According to a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the $350 million asset manager plans to launch the actively managed Tuttle Capital Inverse Socially Conscious ETF (GWGB) and the Tuttle Capital Self Defense Index ETF (GUNZ). 

“I see things that piss me off, and I feel like someone’s gotta take the other side of those things,” said Matthew Tuttle, who founded the asset management firm in 2012 and launched his first exchange-traded fund in 2015. 

“If you can take the other side of an issue in the form of a product, that has a viable use case,” he added. 

GWGB, which is a not-so-subtle reference to the popular conservative phrase “Go woke, go broke,” is designed to be 100% long companies deemed to represent neutral or slightly conservative political views and 100% short companies that represent extreme liberal views, according to Tuttle. 

“We believe politically neutral companies will outperform woke companies,” he said. 

The active feature is key, Tuttle explained, because “companies that follow woke policies can spring on you.” 

“You are expecting woke policies from a company like Ben & Jerry’s, but not from companies like Bud Light, Target and Disney,” he said.  

GUNZ, meanwhile, will track an index represented by companies that feature and support self-defense, generally. 

'Woke Policies'

Tuttle said this fund was inspired by his personal experiences. 

“Two of my kids live in big cities—Chicago and New York—and that should not scare me, but it does,” he said. “You see all this crime and people robbing stores, and people calling to defund the police, and we’re told to find a way to protect ourselves.” 

As was the case with the Cramer ETFs that launched in March, Tuttle realizes he might ruffle some feathers, but that isn’t deterring him. 

“I would assume some people will think it’s great and some people will not be so kind, but I’m ready for more feedback and not just from people investing in these funds,” he said. “I think the vast majority of the country from a political standpoint is somewhere near the middle, and I think there is a much smaller majority on the fat tails, and those people tend to be the most vocal.” 

As for one of the two Cramer ETFs, the Long Cramer Tracker ETF (LJIM) announced last month it is liquidating after attracting just $1.3 million. But Tuttle doesn’t consider it a complete failure.  

“The one thing Cramer got right this year is he told people to buy the magnificent seven” technology stocks that have been carrying the market this year, Tuttle said.  

LJIM was up 12.5% in August, compared with a 1.6% decline for the S&P 500. 

“We crushed it from a performance standpoint, but got zero interest from an investor standpoint,” he said.  

The Inverse Cramer ETF (SJIM) has grown to $3.3 million, and Tuttle has no plans to shut it down even though it has been hurt by the TV host’s call to buy tech stocks. 

“The consensus is almost always wrong, and Cramer is the consensus on steroids, so he’s got to swing at every pitch,” Tuttle said. “He can’t possibly know all those stocks he talks about.” 

Contact Jeff Benjamin at [email protected]