Home » Blog » Harry Dent’s ETF On The Way

Harry Dent’s ETF On The Way

by Michael Johnston on September 11, 2009

The “Sage of Doom and Gloom” is about to make a splash into the ETF industry. Index Universe is reporting that an actively-managed ETF run by Harry Dent, Jr. has received regulatory approval and could begin trading as early as next week. The AdvisorShares Dent Tactical ETF will trade under the ticker DENT and is expected to have a total expense ratio of about 1.5%, but that ratio may decline as ETF assets increase.

Dent is the founder of Tampa-based HS Dent Investment Management, and has focused his investment career on predicting the impact of consumer spending patterns on the financial markets. In the late 1980s, Dent predicted that the Japanese economy, one of the fastest-growing in the world at the time, would soon enter a decade-long downturn. In the early 1990s, he predicted that the Dow would top 10,000. Many analysts openly scoffed at both of these predictions, but began to take notice of Dent when they ultimately came true.

Dent has also had his share of blunders. In 2000 he predicted a decade of strong economic growth, with the Dow reaching 40,000. He repeated this prediction in his 2004 book The Next Great Bubble Boom, before revising his estimates much lower in 2006.

Dent’s latest book, The Great Depression Ahead, paints a much more dismal economic picture than some of his previous publications.

Dent, who will run the ETF along with a co-manager, has historically focused on following macro-economic trends with a particular focus on changing demographics, and the ETF bearing his name is expected to do the same.

AdvisorShares will join PowerShares and Grail Advisors in the actively-managed ETF arena, a space that is widely expected to be the next great driver of growth in the ETF industry. To stay up to date on all the news surrounding the launch of DENT and more developments in the active ETF arena, sign up for our free ETF newsletter.