On Thursday, the JLens 500 Jewish Advocacy U.S. ETF (TOV) released on the NYSE Arca. TOV’s goal is to provide a similar total return to that of the JLens 500 Jewish Advocacy U.S. Index. The fund has a net expense ratio of 18 basis points. The investor group JLens, which works as an affiliate of the Anti-Defamation League, created the fund to invest according to Jewish values.
“Given their profound influence on society — now rivaling that of governments — corporations have an obligation to ensure their products, platforms, and workplaces remain free from antisemitism and all forms of hate,” noted Ari Hoffnung, Managing Director of JLens. “TOV provides a new investment vehicle for the Jewish community to hold corporations accountable, while also giving investors and shareholders the ability to ‘invest Jewishly’.”
The JLens index is a faith-based index that focuses on companies that JLens believes advocates for Jewish values and communal concerns. To begin, the index uses the VettaFi US Equity Large-Cap 500 Index as its starting universe. This VettaFi index highlights the top 500 U.S. stocks in terms of market cap.
From there, companies will be sifted out if they derive more than 5% of revenue from processes that do not align in index values. This includes for-profit prisons, tobacco, oil sands production, and thermal coal extraction.
Pillars of Value
Afterward, remaining companies are evaluated to assess their alignment with the JLens faith-based values. This includes pillars of value such as combating antisemitism, supporting Israel, and repairing the world. In particular, the world repair pillar includes sub-factors such as engaging in ethical business practices, along with worker, society, and environmental concerns.
Each company then receives a score based on how well it conforms to the JLens value pillars. This value score then determines how heavily the asset will weigh in the index’s portfolio. As of November 1st. 2024, 496 companies sat within this index. Notably, the index holds many household names, such as Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, and Alphabet.
Generally speaking, TOV utilizes a replication strategy in order to track the index’s performance. However, the fund may instead opt to pivot to a representative sampling strategy at the discretion of the fund advisors.
Regardless, TOV will usually hold similar sector or industry exposure to that of its underlying index. As of October 31st, 2024, the index did not have notable industry exposure, but did have large exposure to the information technology sector.
For more news, information, and analysis, visit the Faith Based Investing Channel.
vettafi.com is owned by VettaFi LLC (“VettaFi”). VettaFi is the index provider for TOV, for which it receives an index licensing fee. However, TOV is not issued, sponsored, endorsed, or sold by VettaFi, and VettaFi has no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of TOV.
