Barstool Sports
- VanEck Vectors Social Sentiment ETF (BUZZ) now holds $503.1 million in total net assets.
- The exchange-traded fund is up over 6% since its March 4 public debut.
- The fund's largest holdings include DraftKings, American Airlines, Ford, and Facebook.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The VanEck Vectors Social Sentiment exchange-traded fund (BUZZ) passed $500 million in total net assets on Thursday.
According to VanEck Vector's website, BUZZ now boasts $503.1 million in total net assets.
The ETF, which is backed by Barstool Sports founder David Portnoy, started trading on March 4 and quickly saw $280 million in fund inflows.
According to Bloomberg, that first day of inflows "probably ranks it among the 12 best debuts on record" for ETFs.
The ETF launched at the perfect time to capitalize on the retail trader surge that has come from the rise of GameStop and other so-called meme stocks.
The fund tracks an index that scrubs websites like Reddit, StockTwits, and Twitter to determine which stocks are garnering the most positive attention online, and then weighs its holdings accordingly.
Although many have called the ETF a meme-stock play, the fund's founder James Wise told CNBC that his fund "is not a Reddit meme stock ETF."
The CEO of Buzz Holdings and the originator of BUZZ ETF said the fund was meant to track the "broader conversation around stocks mentioned on social media platforms." Wise added that the stocks held by the ETF illustrate the fund isn't chasing meme stocks.
As of March 18, BUZZ's largest holdings included DraftKings, American Airlines, Ford, and Facebook.
Since its inception, the BUZZ ETF is up just over 6%.