EPISODE #59 Accessing Global Medical Cannabis Investment Opportunities with Rahul Bhushan and Stuar

How can you access medical cannabis investments across the world?

This week we’re joined by Rahul Bhushan and Stuart Forbes from Rize ETF, who offer a Medical Cannabis fund for those looking to invest in this emerging industry.

We discover what an Exchange Traded Fund is, it’s advantages over single stock investments, and discuss some of the legal and compliance issues for investors looking to invest in the global medical cannabis industry.

Episode Summary

ETF stands for Exchange Traded Funds, which are funds that are traded on stock exchanges similar to stocks. The funds can contain a range of bonds and shares in one package and are highly regulated.

ETF’s can be traded throughout the day unlike standard mutual funds which can only be bought and sold at the end of the day.

They operate like UCITS (Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) funds, meaning investments will be shared across multiple companies and are not limited to one public limited company.

A thematic ETF selects stocks which are relevant to a specific investment theme, often an emerging market such as the medical cannabis industry in this case. Medical Cannabis companies are still very new as a whole.

Rize ETF launched with both a Medical Cannabis and Life Sciences ETF and a Cybersecurity and Data Privacy ETF, and will be expanding their range of investment opportunities in the future.

Rize ETF recognises themes and upcoming investment opportunities from market research which is how they determine where to split investments.

They have partnered with industry experts such as New Frontier Data within the cannabis space who provide expert insights and recommendations.

Pharmaceutical cannabis companies make up roughly 62% of the Medical Cannabis ETF fund, along with 10% who come from Big Pharma. Other companies which make up the ETF come from CBD, hemp, and farming.

The companies within the ETF come from a range of geographical areas across the globe including Israel, UK, Columbia, Hong Kong and North America.

All companies are subject to strict inclusion and compliance guidelines, and are vetted to make sure they are operating legally, with any company not complying with the rules being added to an exclusion list. All exclusions are cited and made public for investors to see.

This allows consumers to be able to invest in cannabis without having to worry about being caught out by the Proceeds of Crime Act (UK), which prohibits investment in a foreign company if that company’s activities would be illegal in the UK (even if that activity is legal in the company’s home jurisdiction).

Thematic investment strategies have been impacted by Covid-19 just like the rest of the financial markets which too, have taken a tumble. Rahul suggests that it will be some time before these markets start to recover.

Resources

Join Rahul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulbhushan/

Join Stuart on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-forbes-18591348/

Rize EFT on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rize-etf

Rize ETF Website: https://rizeetf.com/

ETF’s Explained: https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/investing/what-is-an-etf/