Rethinking Traditional Asset Allocation Innovation Free Cash Flow

Recorded June 24, 2021
Provided by: Asset TV

24 mins | 24 secs

Photo of John

John Forlines III

Chief Investment Officer | Portfolio Manager

Bob Shea

Bob Shea

Chief Executive Officer | Chief Investment Officer
TrimTabs Asset Management

We believe that the combination of R&D /Free Cash Flow Innovation with Risk Management is a breakthrough in Index and ETF construction.

Advances in technology and healthcare are now embedded in every sector of the global economy (financial services, manufacturing, consumer discretionary first among them), which potentially changes how returns in the equity markets, public and private, may be produced in the future. R&D spending combined with strong free cash flow generation have been responsible for a subset of corporations’ emergence as new leaders in global markets. Join a session with Industry experts to learn how innovation has become its own asset class and deserves a strategic allocation in client portfolios through the TrimTabs Donoghue Forlines Risk Managed Innovation ETF (DFNV).

Investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible.

Holdings are subject to change and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

**The 30-Day SEC Yield is computed under an SEC standardized formula based on net income earned over the past 30 days.

Before investing you should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other information is in the statutory and summary prospectuses, a copy of which may be obtained by visiting the Fund’s website at www.trimtabsfunds.com/ttac, www.trimtabsfunds.com/ttai, www.trimtabsfunds.com/dfhy, www.trimtabsfunds.com/dfnv. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest.

Quasar Distributors, LLC

There is no guarantee that DFNV will achieve its investment objective. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Because the Fund is an ETF (rather than a mutual fund), shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV), may trade at a discount or premium to NAV, and are not individually redeemable. Owners of the shares may acquire those shares from the Fund and tender those shares for redemption to the Fund in Creation Unit aggregations only, consisting of 25,000 shares. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. Investments in the Fund include risks associated with small-and mid-cap securities, which involve limited liquidity and greater volatility than large-cap securities. Because the Fund invests in ETFs, an investor will indirectly bear the principal risks of the underlying funds, including illiquidity, and an investment in the Fund will entail more costs and expenses than a direct investment in the Underlying ETFs. Passive funds that seek to track an index may hold the component securities of the underlying index regardless of the current or projected performance of a specific security or relevant market as a whole, which could cause the Fund returns to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy. The performance of the Fund may diverge from that of its Index. Downside Protection Model Risk. Neither the Adviser nor the Sub-Adviser can offer assurances that the downside protection model employed by the Underlying Index methodology will achieve its intended results, or that downside protection will be provided during periods of time when the Equity Portfolio is declining or during any period of time deemed to be a bear market. Investment in a fund that utilizes a downside protection model that seeks to minimize risk only during certain prolonged bear market environments may not be appropriate for every investor seeking a particular risk profile. The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with investing directly in the underlying assets, including counterparty, leverage and liquidity risks. The Fund may participate in futures markets, which are highly volatile. The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with investing directly in the underlying assets, including counterparty, leverage and liquidity risks. Active and frequent trading of portfolio securities may result in increased transaction costs to the Fund and may also result in higher taxes if Shares are held in a taxable account.

The TrimTabs Donoghue Forlines Risk Managed Free Cash Flow Innovation Index tracks the performance of a rules-based strategy that seeks to provide downside-protected exposure to U.S. equities with strong Free Cash Flow and R&D Investment, selected by a proprietary Free Cash Flow Innovation factor model. The index directs 50% of its position into short-term U.S. Treasury during a defensive regime. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

Regarding the TrimTabs Donoghue Forlines Risk Managed Innovation ETF: the information in this communication is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This communication is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

The Russell 1000 Index is a stock market index that tracks the highest-ranking 1,000 stocks in the Russell 3000 Index, which represent about 90% of the total market capitalization of that index.

There is no guarantee that TTAC will achieve its investment objective. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Because the Fund is an ETF (rather than a mutual fund), shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV), may trade at a discount or premium to NAV, and are not individually redeemable. Owners of the shares may acquire those shares from the Fund and tender those shares for redemption to the Fund in Creation Unit aggregations only, consisting of 25,000 shares. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. Investments in the Fund include risks associated with small-and mid-cap securities, which involve limited liquidity and greater volatility than large-cap securities. The evaluation of ESG ratings may affect the Fund’s exposure to certain issuers or industries and may not work as intended. There is no guarantee that screening the Fund’s portfolio or individual securities based on their ESG ratings will increase the Fund’s performance.

The Russell 3000® Index measures the performance of the 3,000 largest publicly traded U.S. companies, based on market capitalization. The Index measures the performance of approximately 98% of the total market capitalization of the publicly traded U.S. equity market. It is not possible to invest directly in an index

There is no guarantee that TTAI will achieve its investment objective. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Because the Fund is an ETF (rather than a mutual fund), shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV), may trade at a discount or premium to NAV, and are not individually redeemable. Owners of the shares may acquire those shares from the Fund and tender those shares for redemption to the Fund in Creation Unit aggregations only, consisting of 25,000 shares. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. Investments in the Fund include risks associated with small-and mid-cap securities, which involve limited liquidity and greater volatility than large-cap securities. Returns on investments in foreign securities could be more volatile than investments in domestic securities (TTAC).The evaluation of ESG ratings may affect the Fund’s exposure to certain issuers or industries and may not work as intended. There is no guarantee that screening the Fund’s portfolio or individual securities based on their ESG ratings will increase the Fund’s performance.

The S&P Developed Ex-U.S. BMI Index is a market capitalization weighted index that defines and measures the investable universe of publicly traded companies domiciled in developed countries outside the U.S. The Developed Index is float adjusted, meaning that only those shares publicly available to investors are included in the Developed Index calculation. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

Opinions expressed are subject to change, are not guaranteed, and should not be considered investment advice.

ESG disclosure:
Morningstar Sustainability Rating disclosure information:

The Morningstar Sustainability Rating™ is intended to measure how well the issuing companies of the securities within a fund’s portfolio holdings are managing their financially material environmental, social and governance, or ESG, risks relative to the fund’s Morningstar Global Category peers.

The Morningstar Sustainability Rating calculation is a five‐step process. First, each fund with at least 67% of assets covered by a company level ESG Risk Score from Sustainalytics receives a Morningstar Portfolio Sustainability Score. The Morningstar Portfolio Sustainability Score is an asset‐weighted average of company‐level ESG Risk Scores. The Portfolio Sustainability Score ranges between 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating that a fund has, on average, more of its assets invested in companies with high ESG Risk. Second, the Historical Sustainability Score is an exponential weighted moving average of the Portfolio Sustainability Scores over the past 12 months. The process rescales the current Portfolio Sustainability Score to reflect the consistency of the scores. The Historical Sustainability Score ranges between 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating that a fund has, on average, more of its assets invested in companies with high ESG Risk, on a consistent historical basis. Third, the Morningstar Sustainability Rating is then assigned to all scored funds within Morningstar Global Categories in which at least thirty (30) funds receive a Historical Sustainability Score and is determined by each fund’s Morningstar Sustainability Rating Score rank within the following distribution:

  • High (highest 10%)
  • Above Average (next 22.5%)
  • Average (next 35%)
  • Below Average (next 22.5%)
  • Low (lowest 10%)

Fourth, then Morningstar applies a 1% rating buffer from the previous month to increase rating stability. This means a fund must move 1% beyond the rating breakpoint to change ratings. Fifth, they adjust downward positive Sustainability Ratings to funds with high ESG Risk scores. The logic is as follows:

  • If Portfolio Sustainability score is above 40, then the fund receives a Low Sustainability Rating.
  • If Portfolio Sustainability score is above 35 and preliminary rating is Average or better, then the fund is downgraded to Below Average.
  • If the Portfolio Sustainability score is above 30 and preliminary rating is Above Average, then the fund is downgraded to Average.
  • If the Portfolio Sustainability score is below 30, then no adjustment is made.

The Morningstar Sustainability Rating is depicted by globe icons where High equals 5 globes and Low equals 1 globe. Since a Sustainability Rating is assigned to all funds that meet the above criteria, the rating it is not limited to funds with explicit sustainable or responsible investment mandates.

Fourth, then Morningstar applies a 1% rating buffer from the previous month to increase rating stability. This means a fund must move 1% beyond the rating breakpoint to change ratings. Fifth, they adjust downward positive Sustainability Ratings to funds with high ESG Risk scores. The logic is as follows:

  • If Portfolio Sustainability score is above 40, then the fund receives a Low Sustainability Rating.
  • If Portfolio Sustainability score is above 35 and preliminary rating is Average or better, then the fund is downgraded to Below Average.
  • If the Portfolio Sustainability score is above 30 and preliminary rating is Above Average, then the fund is downgraded to Average.
  • If the Portfolio Sustainability score is below 30, then no adjustment is made.

The Morningstar Sustainability Rating is depicted by globe icons where High equals 5 globes and Low equals 1 globe. Since a Sustainability Rating is assigned to all funds that meet the above criteria, the rating it is not limited to funds with explicit sustainable or responsible investment mandates.

Morningstar updates its Sustainability Ratings monthly. The Portfolio Sustainability Score is calculated when Morningstar receives a new portfolio. Then, the Historical Sustainability Score and the Sustainability Rating is calculated one month and six business days after the reported as‐of date of the most recent portfolio. As part of the evaluation process, Morningstar uses Sustainalytics’ ESG scores from the same month as the portfolio as‐of date. Please visit http://corporate1.morningstar.com/SustainableInvesting/ for more detailed information about the Morningstar Sustainability Rating methodology and calculation frequency. Sustainalytics is an independent ESG and corporate governance research, ratings, and analysis firm. Morningstar, Inc. holds a noncontrolling ownership interest in Sustainalytics.

©2020 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Fund holdings and sector allocations are subject to change and are not recommendations to buy or sell any security. www.trimtabsfunds.com/ttac, www.trimtabsfunds.com/dfnv

Free Cash Flow (FCF) represents the cash that a company is able to generate after accounting for capital expenditures.

Free cash flow yield is a financial solvency ratio that compares the free cash flow per share a company is expected to earn against its market value per share. The ratio is calculated by taking the free cash flow per share divided by the current share price.

Free Cash Flow to Market Cap: Free Cash Flow Yield = Free Cash Flow / Market Capitalization.

Alpha is a measure of performance on a risk-adjusted basis

Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is defined as a ratio for valuing a company that measures its current share price relative to its per-share earnings.

Market Price: The current price at which shares are bought and sold. Market returns are based upon last trade price. NAV: The dollar value of a single share, based on the value of the underlying assets of the fund minus its liabilities, divided by the number of shares outstanding. Calculated at the end of each business day.

R&D stands for Research & Development.

IP stands for Intellectual Property.

RNA stands for Risk Not Acceptable.

John A. Forlines, III
Chief Investment Officer