Finding the right ticker for an ETF launch is critical for issuers as these have an outsized impact on the fortune of the ETF. Anyone looking for a gold ETF is bound to come across State Street Global Advisors’ GLD, similar to OIL for getting exposure to oil. TAIL is tough to beat for a tail-risk fund.
However, the best ticker of recent years must have been META of the Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF (METV). The product was launched in June 2021, which was well before the metaverse become the new playing field for crypto startups and tech giants. Specifically, it was before Facebook changed its name to Meta Platforms to emphasise its new focus on the metaverse.
Roundhill subsequently launched a European-listed version of METV in March this year, the Roundhill Ball Metaverse UCITS ETF (METV).
Somewhat unsurprisingly, the Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF changed its ticker from META to METV in January 2022, and sold META to Meta Platforms. The purchase price was undisclosed, but it is difficult to imagine a better buyer than a corporation run by a future-focused founder that has a market cap north of $600bn and $16bn of cash.
In addition to METV, there have been a further six ETF launches in the US over the last 12 months that aim to provide exposure to the metaverse. In this article, we will explore these.
ETF universe
We focus on ETFs trading in the US that specialise on the metaverse, which is a universe of 7 instruments. There is no common agreement on what the metaverse represents, even amongst the developers and companies building the infrastructure or applications for it. The most common vision is a virtual reality environment that is accessed via goggles or headsets. The Steven Spielberg movie Ready Player One often gets referenced as a vision for the metaverse.
These ETFs can be characterised as thematic ETFs, which is reflected in their fees. The average management fees of the seven ETFs is 0.60%, compared to 0.15% for a Nasdaq 100 ETF like QQQM. Having said this, some of the newer products like the Fidelity Metaverse ETF (FMET) are cheaper as it has become a crowded space, where price competitiveness matters.
