Two exchange-traded funds that exclude companies linked to Elon Musk have been registered in the United States.
On July 10 local time, foreign media including TechCrunch reported that ETF manager Subversive Capital has launched two new anti-Elon, or “Ex-Elon,” ETFs aimed at negative sentiment. The new products keep a large-cap investment structure based on the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 while excluding Tesla and SpaceX from inclusion.
It is not easy for the average investor to avoid the world’s richest person. That is because most put money into mutual funds tied to indexes such as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100. SpaceX, which is included in FTSE Russell and MSCI indexes and was recently added to the Nasdaq 100, is automatically included in funds that track those indexes. Tesla, another listed company linked to Musk, has also long been a favored stock of large-cap and growth mutual funds.
The newly registered ETFs are the Nasdaq-100 Ex-Elon Enterprises ETF and the S&P 500 Ex-Elon Enterprises ETF, designed to completely block exposure to those companies. As of the prospectus filing date, the excluded companies are Tesla (TSLA) and Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX), SpaceX’s formal corporate name. Musk’s other companies, Neuralink and The Boring Company, are not included among the exclusions because they are unlisted companies.
If other companies closely associated with Musk emerge in the future, they could also be added to the exclusions of these anti-Elon funds. Filings submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission state that the fund seeks capital gains through exposure to broad U.S. large-cap stocks, while excluding stakes in companies founded, controlled, led or primarily associated with Musk.
While they are formal funds that can be traded, they also have a strongly satirical character. Subversive has previously drawn attention with ETFs it promoted as allowing ordinary investors to “invest like oligarchs.” One tracked stocks traded by Democratic lawmakers and their spouses, while another mirrored holdings on the Republican side.
It is too early to judge whether investors will flock to the two anti-Elon ETFs registered under the ticker symbols QQNE and SPNE, or whether they will outperform existing index funds that include Musk’s companies. Still, the products are enough of a signal that demand is growing to avoid Musk. For him, who was particularly hostile to short sellers, this could also be another form of market reaction that may somewhat provoke him.