Greg Behar, Senior Vice President of Westwood (WHG), spoke with NYSE (ICE) TV for a special video interview.
Watch the interview above and check out the transcript below. The transcript of this conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
KRISTEN SCHOLER (KS): Joining me now to talk more about the launch here at the Exchange is Greg Behar. He’s SVP and Head of Investment Management Solutions at Westwood. Greg, welcome and congratulations.
GREG BEHAR (GB): Thank you very much. Thank you for having me here.
KS: It’s great to have you on the show today. What went into this launch?
GB: Yeah, well, you know, we’ve really been touring the United States and speaking to investors, and we’re finding that they have concerns about authoritarian regime risk, and generally, we see that investors underestimate that risk. There’s a lot of academic evidence showing that democracies have improved economic growth. And then you look at the recent data points with Russia shutting its markets, some unrest in Turkey—like the opposition leader’s arrest. This creates volatility in the markets, and over time, we think it can erode value for investors.
KS: What holdings make up the bulk of this fund?
GB: Yeah, so you’re looking at a global equity portfolio. It’s really a global equity, sleep-at-night, core holding that’s trying to minimize authoritarian risk. So you’re going to see some countries removed because they are identified as authoritarian regimes. And then secondly—and this is very, very important and differentiated from other ETFs in the marketplace—it’s looking at indirect risk. What is a company in a democracy’s correlation to these authoritarian regimes? For example, when Russia’s markets closed, investors lost their money there. But what about U.S. securities with high revenues or subsidiaries in Russia? How did that affect those stocks? This fund takes that into account.
KS: How should someone, one of our viewers, consider perhaps adding this to their overall portfolio?
GB: That’s a great question. I think it’s twofold. One, it’s a core holding, providing U.S. developed markets and emerging markets exposure. It’s really about thinking through that authoritarian risk, providing a “sleep-at-night” component. You can replace some of your global equity exposure or use it as a complement to dampen that authoritarian risk.
KS: How liquid of an asset can our viewers anticipate this to be in the early stages of this launch? Let’s talk three to six months.
GB: Well, we’re expecting a lot of demand from both the retail and institutional sides. As we go around from state to state, we’re speaking to CIOs managing pension plans or states that are considering the removal of China from their portfolios. Those same CIOs are thinking about their own personal investments and looking to invest in an ETF like this. So we’re really excited about it.
KS: We see the market setting up to open on this Thursday after a fourth-quarter GDP report. That pretty much flat figure comes after President Donald Trump announced late Wednesday that he is putting 25% tariffs on foreign-made U.S. cars, with the retaliatory tariffs set to take effect April 2nd and be permanent in his second administration. As an investment professional, how would you describe the current state of the market?
GB: The current state of the market? I think there’s a lot of volatility. Obviously, there’s a lot of geopolitical risk, and that’s why we think this ETF is very interesting for investors right now. They can get core diversified exposure and sleep at night knowing they’re not exposed to those authoritarian regimes.
KS: What else should our viewers know on launch day, Greg?
GB: They should know that this is core global equity exposure and that it really goes beyond just removing authoritarian regimes. It looks at indirect risk, offering a 70%+ reduction in authoritarian regime risk with about a 3% tracking error to a global market cap-weighted basket. So it’s real core exposure.
KS: What will the metrics be that you use to evaluate the success or stickiness of this fund?
GB: I think success is seeing this adopted as a core holding for investors looking for global equity market exposure without authoritarian regime risk. We’re excited to see this grow.
KS: What attracted Westwood to list it here at the stock exchange?
GB: Oh my God. I mean, where else are you going to do it? There’s so much history here. We’re excited to be here for the bell ringing.
KS: Yeah, there’s no other place. I agree with that. Greg, it’s great to have you on the show this morning. Congratulations on the launch.
GB: Thank you very much.
KS: What is the ticker symbol?
GB: It’s B-F-R-E.