MJ - New U.S. Focused Cannabis ETF Hits The Market Today
ETF Managers Group has launched its latest cannabis ETF (exchange-traded fund) that will once again focus on the cannabis U.S. stocks. The ETFMG U.S. Alternative Harvest ETF (NYSE Arca: MJUS) will begin trading today on the New York Stock Exchange. The company said that the MJUS offers investors exposure to cannabis companies operating in the United States, including multi-state operators (MSOs) directly involved in the cultivation, production, marketing, and distribution of cannabis or cannabis-related products.
U.S. cannabis single and multi-state operators are currently only available to investors through second-tier, foreign exchanges, which are not widely accessible through U.S. brokerages. This is why U.S.-focused ETFs have proven to be so popular. The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (NYSE Arca: MJ), which debuted in December 2017, has nearly $1.7 Billion assets under management. MJUS seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in cannabis companies within the Prime U.S. Alternative Harvest Index that derive at least 50% of their net revenue in the United States and in derivatives that have economic characteristics similar to such securities.
“We are especially proud to be bringing yet another cannabis product to investors, specifically an ETF that captures one of the greatest untapped areas of growth potential in the industry,” says Sam Masucci, founder, and CEO of ETFMG.
As the largest cannabis market globally, legal cannabis sales in the U.S. exceeded $17.5 billion in 2020, representing a 46% increase over 2019’s $12.1 billion of sales. With several factors driving growth in the U.S., including more states legalizing cannabis and more consumers entering the market in existing legal markets, the rapid expansion of the U.S. cannabis industry is expected to continue and ultimately generate $85 billion in sales by 2030.
“With voter support for federal legalization initiatives at an all-time high, combined with the positive economic impact cannabis legalization would provide through job creation and increased tax revenues, it is widely anticipated that the current administration will pass federal legislation providing meaningful cannabis reform, which would greatly benefit existing U.S. cannabis-related businesses,” says Jason Wilson, ETFMG Cannabis Research and Banking Expert.