(Bloomberg) - Investors looking to bet on rising inflation have a new exchange-traded fund with a ticker to match: PPI.
The AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF invests in a mix of stocks, ETFs, TIPS and commodities that historically have reacted to inflation. About 90% of the fund’s holdings are equities -- with oil and gas, banking, and iron and steel the top industry groups -- and roughly 59% are in U.S. assets.
The fund’s ticker symbol was aptly named after the producer price index, a popular inflation metric. It is the first ETF issued issued by AXS Investments and will be actively managed by Astoria Advisors founder and CIO John Davi.
Inflation rose to 40-year highs in 2021, and Wall Street is expecting it to be a key risk in 2022. The word “inflation” is the most frequently cited term in a group of Wall Street investment outlooks screened by Bloomberg, and it’s often paired with descriptors like “higher” or “rising.” That’s created demand for investments that claim- to hedge against rising prices. All ETFs with the word “inflation” in either their name or description recorded inflows last year, according to Bloomberg data.
PPI is a “diversified one-ticker solution to inflation,” Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Athanasios Psarofagis said. “Most investors will just default and go into TIPS, but there are some other good options too that investors miss, like equities and commodities.”
“An expansive multi-asset class approach offers investors a compelling way to dynamically hedge inflation and potentially generate positive, real rate adjusted investment results,” Davi said in a press release.
While PPI is AXS Investments’ first foray into EFTs, the firm plans to build out that part of its business in the coming months, CEO Greg Bassuk said.
PPI began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 30. The fund has an expense ratio of 0.7%.
Emily Graffeo
