On Friday, January 2, Gabelli started the new year by launching the Gabelli Opportunities in Live and Sports ETF (GOLS).
GOLS is an actively managed fund that looks to provide long-term capital appreciation for its investment base. Normally, the fund has a net expense ratio of 90 basis points. However, the fund prospectus noted that Gabelli will waive the expense fee for at least one year from the date of the fund’s registration statement.
True to its name, GOLS looks to provide distinct exposure to a selection of different companies in the sports and live entertainment industries. This can include venues, sports franchises, media distributors, athletic brands, and ticketing business, among others.
The Advantages of Sports Exposure
“Teams share many characteristics of good businesses: since their customers are literally their fans, they tend to be economically resilient with strong pricing power,” said Christopher Marangi, Gabelli co-CIO for value and portfolio manager. “They have a large portion of predictable, recurring revenue from media rights, season tickets and sponsorships. They are minimally capital intensive, and they are benefitting from a generational preference for togetherness and ‘experiences’ over ‘things’, making them in many ways anti-AI plays and opening new revenue streams in areas like real estate.”
When it comes to choosing companies to potentially invest in, Gabelli looks for companies that are being offered at a discount relative to their private market value (PMV). Furthermore, the firm also evaluates earnings expectations, price and earnings history, characteristics of balance sheets, and management skills. Along with these corporate factors, Gabelli will also consider economic and political conditions as well.
The exposure GOLS offers, along with investment philosophy, could bring a lot to the table for a variety of different portfolios. Notably, the fund could help offer significant diversification for advisors and investors that are looking to branch out a bit.
Better yet, the diversification from GOLS is coming through multiple avenues. The fund is investing in a variety of different companies engaged in the sports and live entertainment industry, providing distinctly different exposure to traditional equity ETFs that dominate many portfolios today. Furthermore, the fund takes a global perspective, investing in international and domestic companies alike. Adding more global diversification proved to be a valuable strategy in 2025, and may continue to work well in the new year.
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