Episode summary
New ETFs to Watch: A $2.5 Billion Launch, Anthropic and S&P 10,000, Anyone? | Trillions
Trillions
· · 18 min · Hosts: Eric Balchunas, Joel Weber · Guests: Isabelle Lee
Summary
The episode runs through a batch of new ETFs that push in very different directions: a plain-vanilla 90/10 stock-and-bond fund backed by a huge University of California seed, a speculative S&P 500 target-date product built around options, a private-market Anthropic exposure vehicle in Europe, and a mixed-asset return-stacking ETF. The hosts frame the $2.5 billion launch of the State Street SPDR UC Investments 90/10 ETF, ticker UCBG, as the biggest debut in the group and the closest thing to Warren Buffett’s long-touted “Buffett special.”
The hosts argue that UCBG is easy to understand, cheap at about 6 basis points, and well suited to institutions that want liquid ETF access, but they also question whether it will attract broad adoption because most investors already own the S&P 500 and bonds separately. Isabelle Lee and the hosts also discuss Roundhill’s XX, which uses long-dated calls tied to the S&P 500 reaching 10,000 by 2030; they see it as inventive but highly speculative, with the risk of losing everything if the target is missed.
The episode also spotlights 21Shares’ Claoulo, a European product designed to give public-market exposure to Anthropic private shares, and Direction US 500 Plus ETF, ticker SPXP, which the hosts think will face an uphill battle because it charges 92 basis points for a package investors can assemble more cheaply on their own.
Key takeaways
- UCBG is a 90% S&P 500 / 10% short-term bonds ETF seeded with $2.5 billion from UC Investments, which the hosts call the “big hit.”
- The hosts think UCBG is conceptually simple and cheap at about 6 basis points, but may struggle because many investors can replicate it themselves.
- Roundhill’s XX is a leveraged S&P 500 bet on reaching 10,000 by 2030, and the hosts say it could lose all value if the market misses the target.
- 21Shares’ Claoulo gives synthetic exposure to Anthropic private shares, and Isabelle Lee says it is a notable European launch despite a 100 bps fee.
- The hosts are skeptical of SPXP at 92 basis points because it bundles commodities, currencies, and fixed income into something they think advisors would rather build piece by piece.
Notable quotes
“this big institution is doing it. But even more institution is University of California”
“This is going to be tricky because it's 9010 and I guess they could go out and say well look this is what the institutions do”
“If the S&P is at 10,000 or above, the options deliver a substantial leverage payout”
“This is the first ETF to give you 100% of a private exposure and it's doing it for one company”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts radio news. — Buffett when he Bergkshire shareholders would ask him what to invest in and he said look if you're not monitoring the markets all day the the best thing would be what I'm doing in my will which is I said to my wife and my trust that you should put 90% in an index fund preferably Vanguard is what he said and 10% in like short-term treasuries. And so I call that the Buffett special.
Welcome to Trillions. I'm Joel Weber — And I'm Eric Belchunis. — It's time for our monthly new ETFs to watch episode. Our big hit is a whale that Warren Buffett is going to love. Our wild card is a delightfully weird, highly speculative product with a memorable ticker. And we're also going to mention a noteworthy product out of Europe that gets anthropic exposure in an ETF rapper. And then there's our good luck with that category. Joining us, Isabelle Lee, who has a new job at Bloomberg. Congrats, Isabelle.
Thank you. I'm still a markets reporter, but now I'm with the TV side. So, still the same. I'm honored and humbled. I'm blinded. Eric is beside me. Oh my god, I'm blinded. Where are my sunglasses? So blinded. — Well, congratulations and and looking forward to having you on the on the podcast.
She's still the same Isabelle, just way bigger head. — Just way bigger. Yeah. Well, we know I knew her. Not not bigger than Eric. So that's at least — She and I can't fit through a door together. — Not because we're overweight.
I don't know how we're in the studio together right now. I'm just so small in the corner. All right, let's talk about the big hit.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- new etfs
- synthetic private ai exposure
- pre-ipo investing
- s&p 500 bull case
- managed futures strategy
Companies and tickers mentioned
- STT
- State Street
- Anthropic
- Roundhill
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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