Episode summary
The AI Investment Thesis & ETF Income Playbook
ETF Prime
· · 54 min · Hosts: Nate Geraci, Simeon Hyman · Guests: Cullen Rogers, Craig Ebeling
Summary
The episode opens with the rapid rise of the Dan Ives Wedbush AI Revolution ETF, ticker IVES, which launched in June and quickly grew past $750 million in assets. The guest argues the fund’s appeal comes from combining Dan Ives’s AI research with a passive, rules-based wrapper that can adapt as the AI ecosystem changes, instead of relying on static classification screens or simple mention-count models.
The discussion on artificial intelligence centers on two themes: the breadth of the opportunity and the valuation debate. The guest argues AI is still in the early innings, with corporate adoption only around 10% and real revenue-generating companies across chips, power, and infrastructure benefiting from the buildout. He says valuation concerns are real but should be weighed against the possibility that AI becomes a fourth industrial revolution and that focusing too narrowly on multiples could miss major secular winners.
Later, the conversation shifts to ETF income strategies and tax-loss harvesting with Fidelity’s Craig Ebeling. He argues investors should think carefully about dividend ETFs, fixed income ETFs, and options-based ETFs, especially as Fed rate cuts pressure cash yields. He also stresses that tax-loss harvesting is often overlooked in ETF portfolios because it depends on price return, not total return, and can be relevant well before year-end.
Key takeaways
- The guest says IVES has resonated because it pairs Dan Ives’s AI research with a rules-based index that can evolve with the AI ecosystem.
- He argues AI adoption is still early, with only about 10% penetration on corporate tasks, leaving room for multiple years of growth.
- He says valuation concerns matter, but investors with long horizons may need to look through them to capture transformational tech upside.
- Craig Ebeling says dividend ETF investors should watch for unintended factor tilts, not just headline yield.
- Ebeling says active fixed income ETFs can help investors manage duration, credit, and pricing more intentionally than passive bond funds.
- He says tax-loss harvesting in ETFs should be monitored year-round because it is based on price return, not total return.
Notable quotes
“I think it's very difficult to value stocks that are at the the leading edge of innovation”
“we're only about 10% penetration on corporate tasks. So there's a lot of meat on that bone to expand”
“the idea here is that it's a living, breathing document um, based in Dan's research”
“if you want pure exposure you have to be careful about which passive or even active play that you're getting into”
“you can use that capital offset then uh to or that capital loss to offset a realized investment gain on other investments”
How the episode opens
Understand who the asset manager is. What's their tenure as an asset manager? Have they been in the options space?
Do they have an understanding there? And then two, are they um ETF managers? Cuz you can have the best idea in the world, but can you actually execute it in an ETF?
All right. Joining me will be Colon Rogers, chief investment officer of Wedbush Fund Advisors and portfolio manager of the Dan Ies Wedbush AI Revolution ETF, ticker Ives IBES, which is one of the top ETF success stories this year. So this ETF just launched in June.
It's already over $750 million in assets. We're actually talking about a top 15 ETF launch of 2025 out of over 700 new ETFs. Now, I think many of you are certainly familiar with Dan Ies.
He's the very well-known and often colorfully dressed Wall Street analyst. He powers the research behind the Ives ETF. But Coen Rogers is actually again the portfolio manager on this.
And so Colon and I are going to have a full conversation around artificial intelligence. We'll certainly talk about the success of this ETF and then we'll dive into the investment strategy behind it as well. Now later I'll be joined by Craig Ebene, head of ETF strategist at Fidelity Investments, who of course is a top 10 ETF issuer.
And we're going to cover two different topics. So, we'll first talk income generating strategies in a portfolio. Uh Craig is going to offer some key considerations when looking at the three biggest and broadest income generation ETF categories, which are dividend focused ETFs, obviously fixed income itself, and then optionsbased ETFs.
And I would say given the Fed rate cut last week and the expectation for additional cuts moving forward, I thought it was a pretty good time to think about how you're approaching income in a portfolio.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- ai investment thesis
- ai revolution etf
- etf income strategies
- tax-loss harvesting
- year-end planning
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Wedbush Fund Advisers
- Fidelity Investments
Watch the episode
Watch “The AI Investment Thesis & ETF Income Playbook” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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ETF Prime, this episode and its artwork belong to Nate Geraci. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
