Hoya Capital Launches HOMZ, The Housing ETF

NORWALK, Conn., March 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hoya Capital Real Estate, a research-focused investment advisor specializing in real estate securities, today announced the launch of HOMZ, the first exchange traded fund (ETF) to offer diversified exposure across the entire US housing sector.

"The US Housing market is one of the largest— and arguably the most important— asset class in the world," said Alex Pettee, CFA, President of Hoya Capital Real Estate. "We believe HOMZ has the potential to be the new barometer for the performance of the US housing sector. By offering representative exposure to transformative sectors like real estate technology, we believe that HOMZ provides a modernized and highly intuitive evolution in the homebuilding and real estate categories." 

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, HOMZ seeks to track the Hoya Capital Housing 100 Index, a rules-based index designed to track the 100 companies that collectively represent the performance of the US housing sector including home builders, home rental operators, home services and technology firms, and home improvement companies.

Housing is the single largest annual expenditure for the average American household, accounting for a third of average annual spending.¹ Housing costs, as measured by the CPI inflation index, have outpaced average wage growth in every year since 2012, pushing traditional homeownership farther out of reach for millions of households.²

"At inception, HOMZ was conceived as a way for the 100 million renters in America to gain access to an asset class that was previously out of reach, as well as a way for homeowners to diversify their concentrated housing-related exposure," Pettee continued. "With housing costs and rents continuing to rise, we think that HOMZ could be a core component of millions of household's asset allocation. We think that financial advisors will potentially find this ETF to be a compelling solution for their clients who are impacted by rising rents and housing costs."

Hoya Capital sees potential interest in HOMZ from institutional investors as well. "For institutional investors, we believe that HOMZ is potentially the most efficient way to express a directional view on the US housing market or to hedge an existing exposure," says Professor Jonathan Morris, Executive Vice President of Hoya Capital and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University. "Institutions hold trillions of dollars of housing-related assets and liabilities.³ By offering representative exposure to the US housing sector, we think HOMZ addresses a significant investment need for both institutions and individuals."

HOMZ, which expects to distribute dividends monthly*, is the first ETF from Hoya Capital Real Estate. "We founded Hoya Capital Real Estate with the mission of making real estate more accessible to all investors," Pettee continued. "We think HOMZ has the potential to fundamentally disrupt the US housing industry by lowering the hurdle for efficient access to equity ownership of the housing sector." For more information please visit www.TheHousingETF.com.

About Hoya Capital Real Estate

Hoya Capital Real Estate is a research-focused Registered Investment Advisor based in Rowayton, Connecticut. Leaders in commercial and residential real estate analysis, Hoya Capital is among the most widely-read and cited publishers of real estate commentary and research. For more information please visit www.HoyaCapital.com. 

Information Sources

¹ Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2017. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cesan.nr0.htm.

²Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index, 2019. Current Employment Statistics, 2019. https://www.bls.gov/ces.

³Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Mortgage Debt Outstanding Held by Major Financial Institutions, 2018. https://www.federalreserve.gov/data/mortoutstand/current.htm.

The Funds' investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses must be considered carefully before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectus contains this and other important information about the investment company. The prospectus can be obtained by calling 1-833-HOYA-CAP or visiting www.TheHousingETF.com. Please read it carefully before investing.

Investing involves risks. Principal loss is possible. The Fund is not actively managed. The Fund's investments will be concentrated in housing and real estate-related industries. Investments in real estate companies and the construction and housing industry involve unique risks. Real estate companies, including REITs, may have limited financial resources, may trade less frequently and in limited volume, and may be more volatile than other securities. Many factors may affect real estate values, including the availability of mortgages and changes in interest rates. Real estate companies are also subject to heavy cash flow dependency, defaults by borrowers, and self-liquidation. The construction and housing industry can be significantly affected by the real estate markets. Compared to large cap companies, small and mid-capitalizations companies may be less stable and their securities may be more volatile and less liquid. As with all ETFs, Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. Although it is expected that the market price of Shares will approximate the Fund's NAV, there may be times when the market price of Shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount) due to supply and demand of Shares or during periods of market volatility.

*An investment in the fund is subject to fees and expenses. Distributions are not guaranteed. Diversification does not assure a profit nor protect against loss in a declining market.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.

The Hoya Capital Housing ETF seeks to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Hoya Capital Housing 100™ Index. The Index is a rules-based index designed to track the 100 companies that collectively represent the performance of the US Housing Industry, divided into four residential real estate-related business segments: 1) Home Ownership and Rental Operations; 2) Home Building and Construction; 3) Home Improvement and Furnishings; 4) Home Financing, Technology & Services. Designed to track total annual spending on housing and housing-related services at the national level, each of the four segments is weighted based on its relative contribution to GDP.

Hoya Capital Real Estate is the advisor to HOMZ and is distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC.

Company Contact

Alex Pettee, CFA

Hoya Capital Real Estate, President & Head of ETFs

Alex.Pettee@HoyaCapital.com

Media Inquiries 

Stoyan Bojinov

Arro Financial Communications

sbojinov@arrocomm.com

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SOURCE Hoya Capital Real Estate