LOS ANGELES & SUMMIT, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wedbush Securities and ETF Managers Group (ETFMG) today announced that Wedbush has made a minority investment in ETFMG to support the continued growth of their innovative thematic ETF platform. The investment is a natural progression of the firms’ commercial relationship, built over the past two years, notably seen in their collaboration on three thematic equity ETFs in the market providing access to cannabis, cloud computing and video game technology. Wedbush’s commitment will fuel significant emerging opportunities in global investing with a strategic focus on ETF product innovation.

ETFMG has evolved into a leading thematic issuer with a diverse range of global themes by applying unique IP to the ETF wrapper. The firm’s collection of investment themes is 75% first to market products, a number of which have been recognized for fastest asset growth in their respective launch years.

“Wedbush has thrived in the financial industry because of an appetite for innovation, creativity and efficiency,” said Gary Wedbush, Co-President and CEO of Wedbush Securities. “ETF ‘technology’ is case in point as we see it as next generation asset management in the early innings of growth. ETFMG is a proven leader in ETF product innovation particularly in the area of creative thematic investment opportunities.”

Wedbush first collaborated with ETFMG on MJ, the first U.S. and world’s largest ETF to target the global cannabis industry. Most recently, Wedbush and ETFMG announced two co-branded products by way of the IVES and GAMR ETFs. Wedbush’s globally recognized analysts complement the ETFMG market segment expert model that supports the innovative marketing and education strategies powering the investment brands found in their predominantly first to market product portfolio of ETFs.

April 7 marked the launch of the Wedbush ETFMG Global Cloud Technology ETF, IVES, named for prominent Wedbush technology analyst and visionary of the ETF, Dan Ives. The Fund is designed for direct access to the estimated next $1 trillion dollars in cloud spending with differentiating global exposure and a focus on small to mid-cap infrastructure and cloud enabler companies.1 Additionally, on April 20, the two firms announced that the Wedbush, WSJ ‘Best on the Street’ analyst and 17-year gaming and entertainment industry veteran, Michael Pachter, is now the Video Game Tech Expert driving public education around the co-branded fund the Wedbush ETFMG Video Game Tech ETF. GAMR, a first to market product, gives investors pure-play exposure to the now $127 billion video game tech sector expected to grow 49% in the next five years.2

“Wedbush’s investment solidifies both parties’ continued focus on innovation and is an important growth milestone for the ETFMG family,” said Sam Masucci, Founder and CEO of ETFMG. “This is a testament to two privately owned, family founded, financial firms sharing a creative vision for bringing unique global investment themes to market. Together we have evolved what started as a strategic alignment into what is now an exciting commitment to expand our thematic ETF offering.”

About ETFMG

ETFMG is a provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), founded in 2014 with a vision of developing innovative thematic ETFs that provide investors unique exposure to new markets. Today, the ETFMG fund line up provides access to a diverse collection of global themes and is comprised of 75% first to market products. We turn portfolio management strategies into successful ETFs by partnering with market segment experts to bring long-term growth opportunities to investors. ETFMG funds are proof as to the power of the ETF wrapper and that thematic products can have a place in investors’ portfolios. To learn more about ETFMG and our portfolio of exchange traded funds please visit www.etfmg.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter @ETFMG, or YouTube.

About Wedbush Securities

Since our founding in 1955, Wedbush has been a leader in the financial services industry, providing our clients, both private and institutional, with a wide range of securities brokerage, wealth management, and investment banking services; Headquartered in Los Angeles, California with 100 registered offices and nearly 900 colleagues, the firm focuses on client service and financial safety, innovation, and the utilization of advanced technology. For more information visit www.wedbush.com. Follow us: Wedbush Twitter, Wedbush LinkedIn, and Wedbush Facebook.