Co-founder Ramaswamy's Strive controls the assets across its 11 exchange-traded funds, just over a year since its first fund began trading. — Bloomberg
NEW YORK: Strive Asset Management, an anti-activism fund company co-founded by Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, has crossed US$1bil in assets even as it comes under legal scrutiny.
Ohio-based Strive controls these assets across its 11 exchange-traded funds (ETFs), just over a year since its first fund began trading, according to a statement.
The asset manager launched in 2022 with backing from billionaire investors including Peter Thiel and Bill Ackman as an antithesis to investment giants such as BlackRock Inc, which have emphasised environmental, social and governance (ESG)-focused investing.
Strive’s mission statement – encouraging companies to “focus on excellence” rather than ESG mandates, according to Tuesday’s statement – appears to be resonating as investor appetite for ESG dries up and corporate advocates, including BlackRock’s Larry Fink, back away from the phrase.
Ramaswamy’s presidential bid is also likely drawing more eyeballs to Strive’s line-up than would be there otherwise, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
He is currently polling third in the Republican primary field – behind Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis – according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls.
“It is a rare feat for any indie issuer to hit US$1bil in the first year, let alone one that is largely a pushback to ESG as many of those ETFs have flopped,” Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said.
“Ramaswamy’s wealthy backers helped a lot and running for president probably can’t hurt either. That is some unchartered territory when it comes to ETF marketing.”
Strive has had the most success with its US$369mil Strive US Energy ETF (DRLL), which tracks the same portfolio as BlackRock’s US$1.4bil iShares US Energy ETF.
However, DRLL’s selling point is that Strive would use its shareholder-voting power to encourage the companies it holds to “drill more and frack more,” Ramaswamy said last August.
Apart from DRLL, its largest and oldest ETF, the US$267mil Strive 500 ETF has led growth this year with a US$147mil year-to-date inflow, closely followed by a nearly US$147mil haul for the US$153mil Strive Emerging Markets Ex-China ETF.
Strive has recently expanded out of equity-only funds, unveiling two fixed-income ETFs last month.
But Strive’s ascent has come with some hurdles. Two former employees have filed lawsuits against Ramaswamy and his co-founder Anson Frericks in recent months, accusing them of mistreating staff and pushing employees to violate securities law.
The company “intends to vigorously defend itself,” it said in a statement to Bloomberg last month. — Bloomberg
