At Hexis, we combine six decades of equity research experience, supported by AI, to identify and engage with companies driving the global transition to reduced-risk nicotine products. Our disciplined process blends proprietary data analytics, valuation expertise, and a differentiated engagement framework - providing investors with transparent, forward-looking exposure through an efficient, actively managed ETF.
Our Investment Process
1. Fundamental Equity Research
Veteran analysts conduct deep fundamental analysis on candidate companies, with the benefit of their rigorous sector expertise augmented with sophisticated AI research tools
2. Hexis Nicotine Transition Score
Our research process pulls together regulatory trends, product adoption, patent activity, consumer sentiment, corporate governance, ESG disclosures and operational indicators. These inputs generate the Hexis Nicotine Transition Score (HNTS) - a forward-looking measure of each company’s transition credibility.
3. Portfolio Construction & Risk Management
Combining HNTS rankings with valuation discipline, we build a targeted portfolio focused on companies demonstrating credible transition strategies and growth potential.
4. Active Engagement & Stewardship
We pursue a forward-looking, differentiated engagement strategy to accelerate transformation of tobacco and nicotine markets. Guided by HNTS rankings, our targeted actions, core engagement principles, and specialist industry and public health expertise enhance RRP performance and continuously strengthen our investment and allocation decisions.
5. Transparent Reporting & Adaptation
Daily ETF transparency and continuous process refinement ensure investors have real-time access to holdings and strategy evolution.
Investment Selection Criteria
We select companies demonstrating credible leadership in the global nicotine transition- assessed through regulatory compliance, reduced-risk product strategy, ESG alignment, innovation momentum, and our proprietary AI-enhanced analyst review.
What we seek in portfolio companies:
Meaningful or growing revenue from reduced-risk products (RRPs)
A clear, credible strategy to accelerate harm reduction
Strong governance, transparency, and sustainability alignment
Innovation momentum supported by patents, research and development (R&D) intensity, and product pipelines
Attractive valuations adjusted for transition potential using the HNTS-enhanced discounted cash flow (DCF) model
Hexis Process Hallmarks
Hexis Nicotine Transition Score validated by an independent ESG body (Ethos).
Analyst-led research with a combined 60 years of sector experience, augmented by cutting-edge AI tools
Structured, forward-looking stewardship, not passive ownership.
ETF structure offering liquidity, transparency, and tax efficiency.
At Hexis, we combine six decades of fundamental equity research with cutting-edge generative AI to identify and engage with companies driving the global transition to reduced-risk nicotine products. Our disciplined process blends proprietary data analytics, valuation expertise, and a differentiated engagement framework - providing investors with transparent, forward-looking exposure through an efficient, actively managed ETF.
An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of the fund carefully before investing. A prospectus which contains this and other information about the fund may be obtained by calling 1-800-617-0004, or by clicking here. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing.
Investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible. The Fund is a recently organized entity, giving prospective investors a limited track record on which to base their investment decision. The Fund’s investments will be concentrated in the securities of issuers in the tobacco, or nicotine - related group of industries. The tobacco industry is subject to significant risks and uncertainties that could materially and adversely affect the financial condition and cash flows, of companies operating in it. Investing in foreign securities typically involves more risks than investing in U.S. securities, and includes risks associated with: (i) internal and external political and economic developments – e.g., the political, economic and social policies and structures of some foreign countries may be less stable and more volatile than those in the U.S. or some foreign countries may be subject to trading restrictions or economic sanctions; (ii) trading practices – e.g., government supervision and regulation of foreign securities and currency markets, trading systems and brokers may be less than in the U.S.; (iii) availability of information – e.g., foreign issuers may not be subject to the same disclosure, accounting and financial reporting standards and practices as U.S. issuers; (iv) limited markets – e.g., the securities of certain foreign issuers may be less liquid (harder to sell) and more volatile; and (v) currency exchange rate fluctuations and policies. Investment in emerging market securities involves greater risk than that associated with investment in securities of issuers in developed foreign countries.
Derivatives may pose risks in addition to and greater than those associated with investing directly in securities, currencies or other investments, including risks relating to leverage, imperfect correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, high price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty credit, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions. A total return swap is a contract in which one party agrees to make periodic payments to another party based on the change in market value of the assets underlying the contract, which may include a specified security, basket of securities, or securities indices during the specified period, in return for periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or the total return from other underlying assets. The Fund is a non-diversified, investment company under the 1940 Act. Because the Fund is non-diversified, it will invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a limited number of issuers. Investing in medium and small capitalization companies may involve special risks because those companies may have narrower product lines, more limited financial resources, fewer experienced managers, dependence on a few key employees, and a more limited trading market for their stocks, as compared with larger companies. The securities of micro-cap companies may be more volatile in price, have wider spreads between their bid and ask prices, and have significantly lower trading volumes than the securities of larger capitalization companies.
ETFs are subject to risks that the market price of an ETF's shares may trade at a premium or discount to its net asset value, an active secondary trading market may not develop or be maintained, or trading may be halted by the exchange in which they trade, which may impact an ETF's ability to sell its shares. Shares of any ETF are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the ETF. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns
The Hexis Active Nicotine Engagement ETF is distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC
Definitions used on these pages:
R&D: Research and development spend – investment in developing new products, technologies, or capabilities.
M&A: Mergers and acquisitions spend – spending on acquiring or merging with other companies to expand scale, capabilities, or market access.
Capex: Capital expenditure – investment in long-term physical or intangible assets such as facilities, equipment, or infrastructure.
Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model – a valuation method that estimates a company’s value by discounting its expected future cash flows back to today.
Terminal value – the estimated value of a business beyond the explicit forecast period in a DCF model.
Terminal growth rate – the assumed long-term, steady growth rate used to calculate terminal value.
EV: Enterprise Value – a measure of a company’s total value, calculated as market capitalisation plus net debt
EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation