VanEck Alternative Asset Manager ETF Stock Price, News & Analysis

The VanEck Alternative Asset Manager ETF (GPZ) is an exchange-traded fund launched by VanEck to provide targeted exposure to publicly traded alternative asset management companies. According to VanEck, GPZ is described as the first U.S.-listed ETF designed to offer broad exposure to asset managers whose businesses focus primarily on the private market spectrum, covering areas such as private equity, venture capital, private credit, private infrastructure and private real estate.

The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the MarketVector Alternative Asset Managers Index (MVAALTTR). This index is rules-based, modified capitalization weighted and float adjusted. It is comprised of equity securities of alternative asset management companies that are publicly traded in the United States, Canada and developed European markets, subject to eligibility requirements that include market capitalization and trading volume thresholds. Company weightings in the index are capped at 12%.

A key feature highlighted for GPZ is its focus on what VanEck refers to as “ultra-pure play” alternative asset managers. To qualify for inclusion in the underlying index, a company must derive at least 75% of its revenues from private market activities. VanEck notes that, at launch, top holdings in the fund include firms such as Blackstone, Brookfield, KKR and Apollo, all of which are associated with private market investing.

VanEck positions GPZ as a way for investors and wealth managers to gain exposure to the stocks of alternative asset managers that are active across multiple private market categories. The fund is intended to reflect the performance of companies involved in private equity, venture capital, private credit, private infrastructure and private real estate, subject to the index methodology and eligibility rules established for the MarketVector Alternative Asset Managers Index.

VanEck states that the alternatives category has experienced growth as investors seek diversification and potential return characteristics associated with private market strategies. Within this context, GPZ is presented as an ETF that packages a group of alternative asset management companies into a single, rules-based index-tracking vehicle, with the goal of providing investors with a way to access these firms through a listed fund structure.

The ETF is non-diversified in the sense described in its risk disclosures and may concentrate its holdings in a relatively focused group of issuers that meet the index criteria. VanEck notes that holdings will vary for the VanEck Alternative Asset Manager ETF and its corresponding index, and that the fund is subject to a range of risks, including those related to investing in alternative asset managers, the financials sector, equity securities across different capitalization ranges, foreign securities and currency, and index tracking considerations.

GPZ is distributed by Van Eck Securities Corporation, which is identified as a wholly owned subsidiary of Van Eck Associates Corporation. VanEck describes its broader business as offering active and passive strategies across mutual funds, ETFs and institutional accounts, with an emphasis on identifying asset classes and trends that have influenced the investment management industry over time.

Fund focus and index methodology

The MarketVector Alternative Asset Managers Index that GPZ seeks to track is described as the exclusive property of MarketVector Indexes GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Van Eck Securities Corporation. The index is maintained and calculated by Solactive AG under contract. VanEck explains that the index includes alternative asset management companies that meet the “ultra-pure play” revenue threshold, as well as additional criteria related to market capitalization and trading volume. The index uses a modified capitalization weighting approach and is float adjusted, with individual company weights capped.

VanEck also notes that investing in listed alternative asset managers may be speculative and involve substantial risks, including leverage, liquidity, volatility, operational complexity, valuation challenges, limited public information and the risk of borrower default or bankruptcy, among others. These risk considerations are part of the context in which GPZ operates as an ETF focused on this segment of the market.

Role within a portfolio

In VanEck’s description, GPZ is framed as a tool for investors who want exposure to the business performance of alternative asset managers themselves, rather than direct ownership of private market assets. By tracking a rules-based index of companies that derive a substantial majority of their revenues from private market activities, the ETF is intended to reflect developments affecting these firms as a group, subject to the risks and limitations described in its offering documents.

Key characteristics summarized

• Fund type: Exchange-traded fund focused on alternative asset managers.
• Stated objective: Designed to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the MarketVector Alternative Asset Managers Index.
• Underlying index: Rules-based, modified capitalization weighted, float adjusted index of publicly traded U.S., Canadian and developed European alternative asset management companies.
• Eligibility focus: “Ultra-pure play” companies deriving at least 75% of revenues from private market activities, subject to additional market cap and trading volume criteria.
• Private market coverage: Companies active in areas such as private equity, venture capital, private credit, private infrastructure and private real estate, as described by VanEck.
• Index provider: MarketVector Indexes GmbH, with index calculation by Solactive AG.
• Distributor: Van Eck Securities Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Van Eck Associates Corporation.

FAQs about VanEck Alternative Asset Manager ETF (GPZ)

• What is the investment focus of the VanEck Alternative Asset Manager ETF (GPZ)?
  

  According to VanEck, GPZ focuses on publicly traded alternative asset management companies that are primarily involved in private market activities, including areas such as private equity, venture capital, private credit, private infrastructure and private real estate.

• How does GPZ seek to achieve its stated objective?
  

  VanEck states that GPZ is designed to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the MarketVector Alternative Asset Managers Index, a rules-based, modified capitalization weighted, float adjusted index of eligible alternative asset management companies.

• What does “ultra-pure play” mean in the context of GPZ’s index?
  

  For inclusion in the underlying index, companies must meet an “ultra-pure play” threshold, which VanEck describes as deriving at least 75% of their revenues from private market activities, in addition to meeting other eligibility requirements.

• Which types of companies can be included in the MarketVector Alternative Asset Managers Index?
  

  The index may include equity securities of alternative asset management companies that are publicly traded in the United States, Canada and developed European markets, provided they satisfy the index’s revenue, market capitalization and trading volume criteria and other rules.

• Who provides and maintains the index that GPZ tracks?
  

  VanEck explains that the MarketVector Alternative Asset Managers Index is the exclusive property of MarketVector Indexes GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Van Eck Securities Corporation. Solactive AG is contracted to maintain and calculate the index.

• What are some of the risks associated with investing in GPZ?
  

  VanEck notes that an investment in the fund may be subject to risks related to investing in alternative asset managers, issuer-specific changes, the financials sector, equity securities of various capitalizations, foreign securities and currencies, market and operational risks, index tracking considerations and other factors described in its disclosures.

• Does GPZ invest directly in private market assets?
  

  The description provided by VanEck indicates that GPZ invests in equity securities of publicly traded alternative asset management companies. It is not described as investing directly in private market assets themselves, but rather in the stocks of firms that focus on those activities.

• How concentrated can individual holdings be within GPZ’s underlying index?
  

  VanEck states that company weightings in the MarketVector Alternative Asset Managers Index are capped at 12%, which influences how exposure is distributed among constituent companies.