Covid-19 couldn’t stifle a cannabis industry that continued to thrive in Canada despite social distancing measures implemented around the world. According to a Brightfield Group report, more growth for the budding industry is expected as Canada was able to double its revenues in the marijuana industry this year.
“Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report expects Canada’s recreational marijuana industry to double revenues this year and grow more than 500% by 2025,” a Forbes article noted. “This should be good news for cannabis ETFs, many of which are far off their highs.”
“In October 2018, Canada became the second country to make recreational cannabis legal nationwide,” the article added. “This sparked a huge rally in cannabis stocks, such as Canopy Growth (CGC) and Tilray (TLRY). It also sent ETFs focused on the cannabis industry surging.”
Investors can take advantage of the growing cannabis business with the Global X Cannabis ETF (POTX ). POTX seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Cannabis Index.
The fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in the securities of the underlying index and in American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”) based on the securities in the underlying index. The underlying index is designed to provide exposure to exchange-listed companies that are active in the cannabis industry (collectively, " Cannabis Companies"), as defined by Solactive AG, the provider of the underlying index (“index provider”).
Other Cannabis ETF Options
ETF investors looking to capitalize on the continued legalization of cannabis and its effects on industry growth can look to funds like the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ ). MJ seeks to provide investment results that track the total return performance of the Prime Alternative Harvest Index, which is concentrated in the pharmaceuticals and tobacco industries, and tracks the performance of the exchange-listed common stock (or corresponding ADRs or GDRs) of companies across the globe.
Another option is the AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF (YOLO ), which is the first actively managed cannabis ETF in the U.S. The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in securities of companies that derive at least 50% of their net revenue from the marijuana and hemp business and in derivatives or other instruments that have economic characteristics similar to such securities.
“The Brightfield Group estimates that the recreational marijuana segment of the cannabis market should double 2019’s revenues of $881.9 million to $1.7 billion this year,” the article added. “This growth comes despite an insufficient number of dispensaries, especially in the populous providences; overly restrictive regulations; and high production costs, including high taxes, which makes it difficult to compete with the black market.”
