Pot ETFs Make Millions From Short Sellers for Year’s Best Gains
- Two largest cannabis funds have surged over 45 percent in 2019
- Lending out shares in companies they own has boosted returns
The pot-focused Horizons fund is one of North America’s best-performing ETFs.
Photographer: Cole Burston/Bloomberg
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Exchange-traded funds that invest in cannabis companies are hitting the jackpot with a little help from short sellers.
The two largest pot ETFs in North America -- the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF and the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF -- have made millions of dollars lending out their holdings to traders who want to bet against this year’s 60 percent climb in the red-hot market for cannabis stocks. Both funds returned more than 45 percent in the first quarter, beating almost all non-leveraged ETFs in North America, data compiled by Bloomberg show.