Small-caps are often the first to take the hit for economic downturn, but they also historically have had outsized rebounds ahead of other equities when economies shift into recovery mode. For investors looking for small-cap exposure through a risk-mitigation lens, the Nationwide Russell 2000® Risk-Managed Income ETF (NTKI) is worth consideration. NTKI yielded better total returns than the benchmark in 2022, with -16.87% for NTKI in 2022 versus -20.44% for the Russell 2000®.
Recession risk looms increasingly larger this year as central banks in many countries combat inflation and higher interest rates with slow spending. The World Bank has reduced estimates for global growth this year to 1.7%, revising down 95% of its previous estimates for developed countries and 70% for emerging and developing economies.
“In the United States, growth is forecast to fall to 0.5% in 2023—1.9 percentage points below previous forecasts and the weakest performance outside of official recessions since 1970,” according to the World Bank press release.
2022 was a challenging year for markets and equities in particular, with the Russell 2000® Index, which tracks approximately 2,000 U.S. small-cap companies closing out the year down -20.44%. Small-caps are already trading at deep discounts, with markets having aggressively priced in recession risk. The Russell 2000® had a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.93 as of January 20, 2023; for comparison, one year ago, the index had a P/E ratio of 590.28.
By investing in a fund like NTKI now, advisors ideally help reduce the worry of attempting to time the market and capture the rebound potential of small-caps when the economy begins to take a turn for the better through a risk-mitigation lens while also benefitting from the fund’s income-seeking strategy.
“Historically, in the 12 months after the US small-cap index has bottomed around a recession, it has returned an incredible 70% on average – that’s 11% higher than large caps,” explained Andrew Mitchell, director and PM at Ophir Asset Management. “The small-cap rebound is also quick: most of the additional return benefit versus large caps has happened in the first three months.”
Investing in Small-Caps With NTKI
The Nationwide Russell 2000® Risk-Managed Income ETF (NTKI) is an actively managed fund that seeks monthly income and invests in a portfolio of securities that replicates the Russell 2000® Index. The Russell 2000® Index tracks approximately 2,000 U.S. small-cap companies.
NTKI offered a total return last year of -16.87%, well above the Russell 2000® Index’s -20.44%, with reduced volatility over the course of the year. The fund’s risk-managed strategy seeks to reduce volatility, generate monthly income, and provide a measure of downside protection. While backward-looking performance in no way guarantees future results, it’s noteworthy that the fund reflected volatility reduction during a year of prolonged market volatility.
The ETF utilizes an options collar in seeking to generate monthly income. A collar strategy is a strategy that entails holding shares of an underlying security while simultaneously buying protective put options and writing calls for the same security. A put option gives its owner the right, but not the obligation, to sell the underlying asset at a specific price on a specific day. In contrast, a call option gives its owner the right but not the obligation to buy the asset instead.
The options collar is intended to reduce the fund’s volatility, generate monthly income, and provide a measure of downside protection.
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This article was prepared as part of Nationwide’s paid sponsorship of VettaFi.
ETFs, hedge funds, equities, bonds, and other asset classes have different risk profiles, which should be considered when investing. All investments contain risk and may lose value. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Shares of any ETF are bought and sold at market price (not NAV), may trade at a discount or premium to NAV, and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. The Fund’s return may not match or achieve a high degree of correlation with the underlying index’s return.
ETFs, hedge funds, equities, bonds, and other asset classes have different risk profiles, which should be considered when investing. All investments contain risk and may lose value. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Shares of any ETF are bought and sold at market price (not NAV), may trade at a discount or premium to NAV, and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. The Fund’s return may not match or achieve a high degree of correlation with the underlying index’s return.
The NTKI Prospectus may be accessed at: https://nationwidefunds.onlineprospectus.net/nationwidefunds/NTKI/index.php
Call 1-800-617-0004 to request a summary prospectus and/or a prospectus, or download prospectuses at etf.nationwidefinancial.com. These prospectuses outline investment objectives, risks, fees, charges and expenses, and other information that you should read and consider carefully before investing.
The results shown represent past performance; past performance does not guarantee future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the past performance shown, which does not guarantee future results. Share price, principal value and return will vary, and you may have a gain or a loss when you sell your shares. Returns for periods less than one year are not annualized. Short-term performance, in particular, is not a good indication of the fund’s future performance, and an investment should not be made based solely on returns. To obtain the most recent month-end performance, go to etf.nationwidefinancial.com or call 1-877-893-1830.
Click this link for the funds’ Standardized performance and 30-day SEC yield.
KEY RISKS: The Nationwide Nasdaq-100® Risk-Managed Income ETF, Nationwide S&P 500® Risk-Managed Income ETF, Nationwide Dow Jones® Risk-Managed Income ETF, and Nationwide Russell 2000® Risk-Managed Income ETF (collectively, the “Risk-Managed Income ETFs”) are subject to the risks of investing in equity securities, including tracking stock (a class of common stock that “tracks” the performance of a unit or division within a larger company). A tracking stock’s value may decline even if the larger company’s stock increases in value. The Risk-Managed Income ETFs are subject to the risks of investing in foreign securities (currency fluctuations, political risks, differences in accounting and limited availability of information, all of which are magnified in emerging markets).
The Risk-Managed Income ETFs may invest in more-aggressive investments such as derivatives (which create investment leverage and illiquidity and are highly volatile). The Risk-Managed Income ETFs employ a collared options strategy (using call and put options is speculative and can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the reference asset). The success of the Risk-Managed Income ETFs’ investment strategy may depend on the effectiveness of the subadviser’s quantitative tools for screening securities and on data provided by third parties. The Risk-Managed Income ETFs expect to invest a portion of their assets to replicate the holdings of an index. Correlation between Fund performance and index performance may be affected by Fund expenses and because the Fund may not be invested fully in the securities of the index or may hold securities not included in the index.
The Risk-Managed Income ETFs frequently may buy and sell portfolio securities and other assets to rebalance its exposure to various market sectors. Higher portfolio turnover may result in higher levels of transaction costs paid by the Risk-Managed Income ETFs and greater tax liabilities for shareholders. The Risk-Managed Income ETFs may concentrate on specific sectors or industries, subjecting them to greater volatility than that of other ETFs. The Risk-Managed Income ETFs may hold large positions in a small number of securities, and an increase or decrease in the value of such securities may have a disproportionate impact on the Funds’ value and total return. Although the Risk-Managed Income ETFs intend to invest in a variety of securities and instruments, the Risk-Managed Income ETFs will be considered non-diversified.
Additional risks include: Collared options strategy risk, correlation risk, derivatives risk, foreign investment risk, and industry concentration risk.
The Fund expects to invest a portion of its assets to replicate the holdings of an index. Correlation between Fund performance and index performance may be affected by Fund expenses and because the Fund may not be invested fully in the securities of the index or may hold securities not included in the index. The Fund frequently may buy and sell portfolio securities and other assets to rebalance its exposure to various market sectors. Higher portfolio turnover may result in higher levels of transaction costs paid by the Fund and greater tax liabilities for shareholders. The Fund may concentrate on specific sectors or industries, subjecting it to greater volatility than that of other ETFs. The Fund may hold large positions in a small number of securities, and an increase or decrease in the value of such securities may have a disproportionate impact on the Fund’s value and total return. Although the Fund intends to invest in a variety of securities and instruments, the Fund will be considered non-diversified. Additional Fund risk includes: Collared options strategy risk, correlation risk, derivatives risk, foreign investment risk, and industry concentration risk.
Distribution Yield: A distribution yield is the measurement of cash flow paid by an exchange-traded fund (ETF), real estate investment trust, or another type of income-paying vehicle. Rather than calculating the yield based on an aggregate of distributions, the most recent distribution is annualized and divided by the net asset value (NAV) of the security at the time of the payment.
30-Day Volatility Measure: Volatility is used as a measure of a security’s riskiness. Typically investors view a high volatility as high risk. 30-Day Rolling Volatility equals the Standard Deviation of the last 30 percentage changes in Total Return Price multiplied by the Square-root of 252
Price-Earnings Ratio (P/E Ratio) – The ratio of a company’s share price to the company’s earnings per share. The ratio is used for valuing companies and to find out whether they are overvalued or undervalued.
Russell 2000® Index: An unmanaged index that measures the performance of the small-capitalization segment of the U.S. equity universe.
FTSE Russell (“Russell”) is the Index Provider for the Russell 2000® Index (“Russell 2000®” or the “Index”). Russell is not affiliated with the Fund, Nationwide Fund Advisors, the Distributor nor any of their respective affiliates. Nationwide Fund Advisors has entered into a license agreement with Russell to use the Russell 2000®.
The Nationwide Russell 2000® Risk-Managed Income ETF (“NTKI”) has been developed solely by Nationwide Fund Advisors. NTKI is not in any way connected to nor sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by the London Stock Exchange Group plc and its group undertakings (collectively, the “LSE Group”). FTSE Russell is a trading name of certain of the LSE Group companies. All rights in the Russell 2000® vest in the relevant LSE Group company which owns the Index. “Russell®” is a trademark of the relevant LSE Group company and is used by any other LSE Group company under license. The Index is calculated by or on behalf of FTSE International Limited or its affiliate, agent or partner. The LSE Group does not accept any liability whatsoever to any person arising out of (a) the use of reliance on or any error in the Index or (b) investment in or operation of NTKI. The LSE Group makes no claim, prediction, warranty nor representation either as to the results to be obtained from NTKI or the suitability of the Index for the purpose to which it is being put by Nationwide Fund Advisors.
S&P 500® Index: An unmanaged, market capitalization-weighted index of 500 stocks of leading large-cap U.S. companies in leading industries; gives a broad look at the U.S. equities market and those companies’ stock price performance.
The S&P 500® Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates (“SPDJI”) and has been licensed for use by Nationwide Fund Advisors. Standard & Poor’s®, S&P®, and S&P 500® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”); Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”); and these trademarks have been licensed for use by SPDJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by Nationwide Fund Advisors. The Nationwide S&P 500® Risk-Managed Income ETF (“NSPI”) is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P or their respective affiliates, and none of such parties makes any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions or interruptions of the S&P 500® Index.
Market index performance is provided by a third-party source Nationwide Funds Group deems to be reliable (Morningstar and U.S. Bank). Indexes are unmanaged and have been provided for comparison purposes only. No fees or expenses have been reflected. Individuals cannot invest directly in an index.
Nationwide Fund Advisors (NFA) is the registered investment advisor to Nationwide ETFs, which are distributed by Quasar Distributors LLC. NFA is not affiliated with any distributor, subadviser, or index provider contracted by NFA for the Nationwide ETFs.
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